Peter J. Woolley, Ph.D., Founding Director of the School of Public and Global Affairs at Fairleigh Dickinson University, talks with Steve Adubato about the role of higher education in political and social discussions and the current state of our democracy.

Steve Adubato asks Woolley about the role of higher education in providing a safe, civil, respectful platform for political discussions. Woolley responds saying, “That is the role of universities, to provide that appropriate arena for debate, for argument, and for learning. I think a lot of people would say universities have not done a good job at that, even though their best intentions are to provide that safe space. The safe space is not to protect people from other people’s speech. The safe space is to have the argument in, and to learn from it, and to grow in your ability to debate effectively. Universities I think have erred on the side of safe space rather than on the side of ‘let’s have it out and let’s learn how to do it right’.”