National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman Jim Leach is bringing his 50-state “civility tour” to UC Davis, where his talk will coincide with Chancellor Linda Katehi’s push for reaffirmation of the campus’s 20-year-old Principles of Community.

Leach’s talk in the new Chancellor’s Colloquim series is set for 11 a.m. April 8 in Freeborn Hall, with the entire campus community invited.

Leach, a former member of Congress, launched his tour last November. “The increasing use today of the vocabulary of cultural wars and secession is deeply troubling,” he said. “We have a unique national culture with a mosaic of subcultures. A critical question is whether we treat our many cultural differences with dignity and respect and as opportunities to grow and learn, or as divisive traumas worthy of warring over.”

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