A Response to Moore et al.’s “Cowboys Coming Together: Campus-Based Dialogues on Race and Racial Equity”

I am pleased to have the opportunity to read and engage with Moore et al.’s study of the deliberative process taking place at Oklahoma State University. The authors provide a range of valuable points for scholar-practitioners to learn from and reflect on. The article does an excellent job of demonstrating how fostering and studying deliberative practices is labor-intensive and requires creative alliances between and among administration, faculty, staff, and students. At a time when higher education faces several crises (Blumenstyk, 2014; Murakami, 2020), the study raises important questions about how to develop models for deliberative work in higher education that are beneficial and sustainable. Toward this end, I briefly explore two concepts that might be helpful as scholar-practitioners in higher education seek to strengthen deliberative capacity on their campuses and better fulfill the public mission of colleges and universities.