I decided to sit down with (or, rather, phone) the individual members to get an insight into their thinking, their visions, and their expectations of the year ahead. It was a truly eye-opening experience, and I’m thrilled to present the outcomes of the discussion with Sophie and Verity, the Academia and Civil Discourse reps.
Why do you think it’s important for us to represent Civil Discourse and debating?
-[Sophie] I think Civil Discourse is important in order to challenge your own views. At Wimbledon we tend to sit in a happy little bubble of people that agree with us, and we never really have to question our own beliefs and think about the other side of the argument. It’s helpful to find ways of backing up your opinions not only to solidify them for yourself, but also to help you question others. Academic representation is important in a similar way. I think it’s needed to push people outside of their comfort zone, but also to let younger students know that there are people that have been through the same thing before.
-[Verity] As a school, it’s true that we have quite shared ideals, we’re quite liberal. But then, we’ll go out into the world, we’ll be in different parts of the country, in mixed age groups full of people with different ideas to us. Hence, it’s important to be aware that other people don’t necessarily share your beliefs, so you have got to be able to acknowledge that and effectively argue your point of view in a calm, collected way. In a way, also, that isn’t antagonistic, and that doesn’t demean other people’s points of view. Everyone is entitled to their ideals, and we should be able to debate our side of the argument civilly.
What kind of plans, ideas, visions do you have for the next year?
-I think focusing on PSHE will be important, as well as peer counselling, and working together within that. Potentially going into classrooms and trying out a bit of debating [Club – Fridays 2nd lunch] … even discussing the nuances of different newspapers and the variations in how different people report about and reflect on current events. It could be politics, could be social or even environmental. Maybe, also – spoiler alert – something similar to Clever Clogs.
-For me, changing up the mentor scheme a little to make it more organised and to help it run as smoothly as possible. Also, bringing a wider subject representation to the Rosewell series and encouraging non-scholars to attend.
If you could invite your own Rosewell Lecture speaker, who would it be?
–I would like to listen to Matt Ridley, who is a genomics science writer. Verity and I have also spoken about bringing in a Civil Discourse-style panel with speakers who have opposing views, to hear how they discuss a specific topic.
-For me, Mary Quant. I would be so fascinated to have a chat with her, or even a panel, discussing how she persevered as a woman in an industry massively dominated by men, especially when she was so young. And yet, she completely turned the industry on its head. I would love to talk to her!
