In a climate of political violence, hateful rhetoric, and high levels of polarization, Liam Connor sought a middle ground.
He couldn’t find a place to calmly and safely discuss the top issues facing the nation – topics like climate change, gun rights, abortion. So he created one.
“I just want to have a safe space, judgment free, where people could talk about politics in an age where it’s very hard to do,” he said.
Connor, a Political Science pre-law junior, started the student group MSU Middle Ground after the 2024 presidential election. He noticed all the recruitment tables for political parties and to register to vote on campus but there was something missing.
“No one was discussing with each other the different political views, especially online,” Connor said. “We get into these echo chambers which can be really harmful to our political climate.”
Connor looked into the different student groups hoping to find a place where people were calmly discussing political differences but came up empty.
“There’s the MSU College Republicans and Democrats but they rarely talked to each other,” Connor said.
“I wanted to create a space where people of differing viewpoints could come together, and just through a mediated civil process, talk about politics.”
Having spaces in our society to calmly debate topics is vitally important, said Prof. Jeff Conroy-Krutz, who is Chair of the Political Science Department and has studied inter-group dialogue in places like Ghana, Madagascar, and Niger
“There is a lot of research to suggest that talking and listening across lines of difference can be helpful for building peaceful, democratic societies,” Dr. Conroy-Krutz said. “People’s minds might not change, but they come to see people from ‘other’ groups with greater understanding and empathy, which is very important. Organizations like this are especially needed in the US and so many other contexts today.”
Before joining MSU Middle Ground, all members are required to agree to suspend all judgment and promise to respect everyone’s thoughts.
Each meeting starts with a five- minute slideshow introducing that evening’s topic.
Connor is deliberate about getting his news from multiple sources to offset any biased sources. He cross-references the information in order to mediate the discussions held at Middle Ground.
He hasn’t had to do much mediation, and by the end of each meeting, the group comes together to form a compromise on what they can all agree on.
In this new semester, Connor is heavily recruiting members to continue the discussion, reaching out to all political groups on campus.
“We have a great diversity of cultures and political views and want to keep growing,” he said.
For more information and to follow MSU Middle Ground, check out their Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/msu_middleground/
Photography by Jackie Belden Hawthorne, College of Social Science