Arizona university launches institute to promote civility

The National Institute for Civil Discourse will be run by the University of Arizona. Former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton will serve as its honorary co-chairmen.

“Our country needs a setting for political debate that is both frank and civil, and the National Institute for Civil Discourse can make a significant contribution toward reaching this goal,” Bush said in a prepared statement.

Clinton said the institute “can elevate the tone of dialogue in our country, and in so doing, help us to keep moving toward 'a more perfect union.'”

Giffords, a Democrat, was shot in the head during a community meet-and-greet Jan. 8 outside a local grocery store. A federal judge and five others were killed. Giffords was among 13 people injured.

While it is widely suspected that Jared Loughner, 22, who faces charges in the shooting, suffers from mental illness, many Americans have focused on the bitter political climate in which the assault occurred.

The institute's goal is to develop programs, stage conferences, design curricula and encourage research intended to promote more civility in the political arena, said its director, Brint Milward.

The institute — funded in part by a grant from Tucson-based health care provider Providence Service Corp. and to be housed in one of firm's downtown buildings — would cooperate with similar organizations and institutions across the country, Milward said, “to create an archipelago of organizations that want to promote a different style of politics.”

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