“Hear Someone Out” Student-Led Campaign Promotes Civil Discourse Among CU Students
Hear Someone Out is a new University of Colorado - Boulder student-led campaign launching to address the serious issue of incivility taking place online and in person. The goal of the civility campaign is to improve the standards of public discourse among CU students. The effort is led by a team of CU Public Relations students competing in the nationwide PRSSA Bateman Case Study Competition.
Hear Someone Out aims to improve civility in the community because public discourse is at an all-time low in America. According to Weber Shandwick, 93 percent of Americans identify incivility as a problem in today’s society, and it has resulted in a loss of creativity, productivity, team spirit, and customer satisfaction in businesses. Therefore, in an effort to promote civil discourse in the community, Buffs for Civility is using the slogan “Hear Someone Out” to call upon people to engage in civil conversations, which can be done by listening to others.
“Our mission is to stop the shouting matches people are having at their dinner tables, workplace or school, and provide people with resources to have civil discourse,” said Buffs for Civility member Henry Collins. “This means not cutting people out of your life for having opposing views, but instead reaching a mutual ground with others by being understanding, empathetic and most importantly, ‘Hear Someone Out.’”
According to Weber Shandwick, incivility has not only had ill effects on the economy, health and safety of the community, but also on society at large. Specifically, 73% of people believe incivility has led to political gridlock. Moreover, the greater risk of incivility is the corrosion of civil dialogue to the point where all sides inexorably lose.
Consequently, the desired outcome for this year’s Bateman Competition is for students to create a campaign that positions the public relations profession as a resource for countering incivility. In doing so, Buffs for Civility is aiming for 100 pledges against incivility on its website. This pledge calls upon people to hold more civil conversations; to be empathetic, understanding and respectful; and to “Hear Someone Out.” Additionally, Buffs for Civility has created a social media campaign on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter for students to participate in the campaign and learn about how to engage in civil conversations. In addition, the team is partnering with local businesses to further spread awareness of the issue.
About The Bateman Case Study Competition
The Bateman Case Study Competition is a national case study competition for public relations students run by PRSSA. It gives students the opportunity to apply their classroom education and internship experiences to create and implement a full public relations campaign.
Delta Dental of Michigan is sponsoring the competition. To learn more, please visit https://prssa.prsa.org/scholarships-and-awards/bateman-competition/.
About Buffs for Civility
Buffs for Civility is a 2021 Bateman Competition team and includes seniors Alicia Whitman, Helena Regan, Peyton Miller and Henry Collins. These strategic communication students are utilizing their education and experiences to execute a public relations campaign focused on incivility in Boulder with the goal of winning the competition so it is offered nationwide. Buffs for Civility hopes to create change within their Boulder, Colo. community to prove that incivility can be suppressed. Join the conversation on social via Instagram and TikTok at (@HearSomeoneOut) and Twitter (@Hear_Someone).