Dear

Spectator

Editorial Board,

In last week’s issue, Editorial Editor Peter Case wrote about students being in an “echo chamber” located “in the middle of rural New York [where] there is little in the way of a prominent stage on which protestors can voice their concerns.”

I wish to offer students an immediate solution to Peter’s perceived reverberating enclosure.

Hamilton is joining with public radio’s StoryCorps in a new project which offers students an opportunity to sit down and converse with a community member who embraces a differing political perspective. The initiative, One Small Step, seeks to bring people together — not to argue their positions — but rather to get to know each other as people and how they came to adopt their views. Discussions might include what experiences have shaped their politics, how their views of the world have developed, and what their hopes and fears about the future may be.

Although the community may feel like an echo chamber to some, not all the citizens of Oneida County reflect the views of Hamilton students. Stepping out of your “echo chamber” is simple.

To take the next step — that is, to participate in a 40-minute recorded and moderated conversation with another person, you must fill out a questionnaire NOW at

www.hamilton.edu/onesmallstep.

StoryCorps will match you with someone with an opposing view on the weekend of April 12–14 for an on-campus conversation, but you must register now. With your permission, the recording will be archived in the Library of Congress and portions may be broadcast on public radio.

Now is your chance to step out of your echo chamber and make yourself heard. Will you take that opportunity or simply, as Peter suggested, throw snowballs?

Sincerely,

Vige Barrie

Senior Director of Media Relations