Recalling Barbara Bush
How she inspired dialogue, not divisiveness
On Sunday former first lady Barbara Bush would have turned 100. The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy is marking the occasion with a year-long celebration. It gave me the chance to reflect and renew one of my older posts about Mrs. Bush and her communication acumen. This message from April of 2018, when she passed, has only been amplified by the passage of seven years. Enjoy.
When First Lady Barbara Bush deftly handled the 1990 commencement speech at Wellesley, she reminded us of the need to embrace dialogue on our college campuses, even when we disagree with one another...perhaps particularly when we disagree with one another. I won’t give away remarkable rhetoric which marks the end of her talk, but it's classic Barbara Bush. If you cannot treat yourself to the entire eleven minutes, you can pick it up around 8:30 to see "where the magic happens."
But, as with all great speakers and speeches, it's what occurred before the talk that matters most to me here. First, she knew that she was not the first choice of the graduating class. That was Alice Walker. Further, she knew they questioned both her pedigree (having never finished college at nearby Smith) and her accomplishment (marrying well).
Yet, rather than avoid conflict, Mrs. Bush leaned into it.
She worked with her speechwriters to craft the right remarks. She invited Russian First Lady Raisa Gorbachev to join her at the ceremony, offering the college "two first ladies, not just one." Perhaps most importantly, she met earlier in the day with students who had objected to her selection, not to convince them otherwise but to create a connection despite their disagreement.
Historians tell us that this speech was the only time all three networks broke in live to cover a speech by a first lady. It was historic, but also meaningful. From different generations and experiences, she and the graduates could find some common ground and agree on where they could not agree. That, I believe, is one of our sacred obligations in higher education. In our efforts to ensure our classrooms and dorm rooms are safe spaces, we must not forget that at times we may create learning opportunities in the discomfort of hearing from those whose opinion we do not share. We must at times both comfort the afflicted but also afflict the comfortable. It is in exploring the unfamiliar that some of our best learning occurs.
The challenge and benefit of embracing dialogue, even when it's uncomfortable, make learning possible. The struggle continues in our colleges and universities. But we need to remember: engagement does not mean endorsement.
Thank you, Mrs. Bush, for your memorable engagement and example.
My Talk of the week dips back into the TED archives for one of my favorite Adam Grant talk ever:
(Okay, want to procrastinate even longer? Check out the hilarious companion talk by Tim Urban, Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator.)
JD’s Recommendations: what I’m reading, hearing, and seeing:
Reading: While my own mother told me to never interrupt, this brief piece from Angela Haupt at Time Magazine offers The Best Way to Interrupt Someone.
Hearing: My former student, Kudzi Chikumbu, interviews my former colleague, Allison Kluger, on this episode of Just One Thing.
Viewing: This video poses a great question to close today’s Comm Matters: if you could have dinner with anybody living and dead…who would you choose? Let me know in the comments below…
The president's always get the Spotlight and people often forget that the first ladies make such a difference. I sometimes wonder if they're not really the peacemakers in all these high power political families. Great post!