New students learn to navigate tough conversations
James McCutcheon, a first-year student at Washington University in St. Louis, identifies as a moderate. His roommate is a Democratic Socialist. Will they get along? The new orientation program, “Dialogue Across Difference,” set out to help new students navigate conversations about identity and race.
SCOTUS preview: First Amendment expert on legislative prayer and the “mistakes of the past, present and future”
The Supreme Court is expected to rule this spring on whether prayers before town hall meetings violate the First Amendment clause that prohibits the establishment of religion. John Inazu, a First Amendment expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, highlights one dimension of the litigation often unaddressed by commentators: what he calls the “mistakes of the past, present and future” adopted by proponents of legislative prayer.