20 | OCTOBER 20 • 2022 

T

he Great Lakes Civility Project 
invites the public to a day-long 
conference on civility at Oakland 
University on Tuesday, Oct. 25. 
Founders of the Great Lakes Civility 
Project, Nolan Finley and Stephen 
Henderson, developed the project to coun-
teract the growing tendency in America to 
look across political divides with anger and 
without comprehension. 
“The last decade has been one of the 
most politically and emotionally divisive 
in American history; and as we get closer 
to midterm elections, those tensions will 
continue to rise,” Henderson said.
Finley added, “
A huge part of civili-
ty requires seeing the other person as 
human and trying to understand where 
they are coming from. Our goal is to teach 
people how to truly listen to one another 
to move past conflict and work together 
more effectively. You don’t have to agree — 
but listening to understand is key.”
Finley has long served as editorial page 
editor of the relatively conservative Detroit 
News. Henderson was editorial page edi-
tor of the relatively liberal Detroit Free 
Press; he currently hosts Detroit Today 
and America’s Black Journal. Though the 

two men hold opposing political views, 
they have remained good friends and have 
skillfully continued a respectful dialogue 
for years. They designed the program at 
Oakland University that encourages that 
skill: the ability to listen calmly and speak 
respectfully across the political divide. 
Henderson believes that “finding some 
way to begin with a conversation about our 
stories and how we came to believe what 
we believe will disarm some of the conver-
sation about how bitterly we do disagree 
with each other.”
Among the featured panels at the Civility 
Day Conference: political opponents in 
the House of Representatives, Democratic 
Rep. Debbie Dingell and Republican Rep. 
Fred Upton, plan to co-lead a session on 
“Having Difficult Political Conversations.” 
Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld, CEO of the 
Zekelman Holocaust Center, is sched-
uled to present “The History of 
Dehumanization.” If, as Finley and 
Henderson assert, the strategy of civility 
requires recognizing political opponents 
as human beings, then when civility 
breaks down, we begin to treat “others” as 
enemies and as less than human. At the 
extreme, we can engage in dehumaniza-

tion, classifying the others as animals, pests 
or diseased organisms, and that, Mayerfeld 
observes, “allows atrocities to occur, 
including the Holocaust.” 
A panel trying to answer the question: 
“Why Does Politics Make Us So Mad?” 
will feature analysis by scholars from the 
Center for Peace and Conflict Studies 
at Wayne State University, Oakland 
University’s Center for Civic Engagement, 
Henry Ford College and the University of 
Michigan-Dearborn. 
The conference will take place from 
9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at Oakland 
University’s Oakland Center at 312 
Meadow Brook Road in Rochester. 
There is a charge, which includes lunch. 
However, the first 100 participants will 
attend free of charge, courtesy of Delta 
Dental. Additional Civility Day sponsors 
include Huntington Bank and Oakland 
University.
Gary Torgow, chairman of Huntington 
Bank, notes that Finley and Henderson 
teach skills for cooperating despite differ-
ences. He explains why Huntington Bank 
serves as a sponsor of the Great Lakes 
Civility Project: “If we had more civility in 
the world, it would give us all an opportu-
nity to accomplish much more.” 
Increased civility could help in inter-
personal relationships, in business and 
even, according to Torgow, “across the 
aisle in our government in Congress and 
in our governing bodies. If they can work 
together more civilly, that would be a 
credit to their institutions, and they could 
accomplish more for their constituents, 
their country and the world. So that was of 
interest to us to promote this project.”
Torgow also sees the goal of increasing 
civility as consistent with Jewish values, 
for “according to the rabbis,” he says, “the 
Almighty loves unity; He loves peace. 
Peace is a great conduit for all good things 
in the world.” 

Registration and information are available at https://

calendar.oakland.edu/polisci/event/5791.

OUR COMMUNITY

Great Lakes Civility Project aims to teach people how to work 
together more effectively despite political differences.
Bridging the Political Divide

LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Nolan Finley, 
veteran editorial 
page editor of 
the Detroit News, 
and Stephen 
Henderson, host 
of Detroit Today 
at a prior year’s 
program

