Hillsdale College Hosts Talk on Civility
Author and speaker Alexandra O. Hudson spoke on “The Soul of Civility.”
HILLSDALE, Mich. — Hillsdale College hosted author and speaker Alexandra O. Hudson for a lecture titled “The Soul of Civility.” Hudson discussed the meaning and necessity of civility and how to cultivate it.
“The citizen — the ethos and character and virtue of citizens — is prior to the state. It’s more important than our institutions; it’s what sustains our institutions.”
“Civility is essential to the work of a college,” said Kyle Murnen, chief staff officer at Hillsdale College. “It is what allows us to engage in free and open debate, to pursue truth together, and to disagree while remaining friends. Alexandra Hudson has thought deeply about civility, and it was a joy to have her share her insights with our students.”
Hudson said that during a disillusioning year in the Department of Education, she came to see the similarity between mere politeness and outright hostility.
“Both emerge from a fundamental problem that insufficiently sees the beauty and value and the gift of being human,” Hudson said. “The hostile contingent sees others as pawns to be steamrolled and bullied, and the polite contingent sees others as pawns to be manipulated and discarded the moment they no longer serve their purposes, but neither have a sufficiently high view of the dignity and irreducible moral worth of being human.”
Unlike politeness, Hudson argued, civility is an internal disposition to regard others as moral equals worthy of respect, allowing for peace and flourishing amid deep differences.
“This is something organic and bottom-up and voluntary,” Hudson said. “Only we can choose to be a part of the solution and how we live our lives every day, and that’s in fact the premise of democracy — that the citizen, the ethos and character and virtue of citizens, is prior to the state. It’s more important than our institutions; it’s what sustains our institutions.”
Alexandra O. Hudson is an author, speaker, and founder of Civic Renaissance, a global community of 50,000 dedicated to beauty, goodness, and truth. Known for her work on storytelling’s impact, she has advised foreign governments, including Canada and the United Kingdom, and spoken at Stanford, Yale, and beyond. A 2020 Novak Journalism Fellow, Alexandra contributes to outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, TIME, and Newsweek. Her bestselling book, “The Soul of Civility,” led to a global tour with her family.
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