Part 1: It’s homecoming day at the University of Wisconsin and there may be no time or place to better witness the remarkable role a college union can play in building community and inspiring a generation of future leaders. In 1914, students from seven colleges came together to wonder aloud what might happen if learning was extended beyond the classroom. They imagined a welcoming, physical space, on campus, where ideas and feelings could be exchanged to give meaning to facts learned in the classroom and in books. Wisconsin Union was one of those seven colleges and you about to see the idea in full bloom. Part 2: Once we gathered around a fire. In that flickering light we shared our fears and our dreams. In doing so we began to feel like we belonged. That emotion… belonging is what community is made of. It is also the raw material out of which a college union is built. We take you now to the hearth around which the union at Davidson College in North Carolina is constructed. It’s a small liberal arts school where students give meaning to the lessons they learn in classrooms by creating a community in which individuality and differences of opinion are honored, like instruments in an orchestra.
