there is a real opportunity at Goddard to put into action the intentions of the founders. Goddard is in a unique position. Few other colleges or institutions have the history, the resident skills, interests, commitment, or experience to face up to the "all out war" against participatory democracy that is presently being waged in our society -- on our national political scene, in state and local government, and even on our own campus. Will participatory decision making, self?determination, and non-hierarchial forms of government prevail here and at the other levels? Will we permit coercive processes to continue to replace consensus processes, authoritarian standards to prevail over collaborative ones? We at Goddard have the special responsibility to provide a model to the rest of the country. If we do not do it who will?

"All the education [and research] in the world cannot teach democracy, any more than books will teach a child how to swim Democracy is learned through practice -- through personal involvement in issues of personal concern. People are 'ready for democracy' when they say they are. Since democracy is a process, being ready means being ready to learn that process. Democracy is on-the-job training. There is no preparation, no way to avoid mistakes. Democracy requires that we make mistakes. Democracy is the process of learning through trial and error how to engage in the process of learning democracy." -- Philip Slater (1991).

What can we do? Within Goddard there is a wealth of experience in a multitude of areas of knowledge. First, we need to gather together in small ad-hoc groups

"We call skills that make possible effective public life the arts of democracy .... We've chosen the term art quite deliberately. Art to us sounds pretty important. It's something people take s eriously, and that's exactly the point. We want to elevate the notion of democratic practice to something that is highly valued, prized -- something that is actively sought by all of us .... Like sports or the art of dance, we learn the arts of Living Democracy by doing them and by reflecting on our doing. Practicing the democratic arts means participating in democratic decision making and action.

After all, human beings are innately social creatures ?? meaning that we're obviously dependent on each other. But we're not born effective social creatures. While virtually all of us have the potential to listen, to communicate well, to envision a better society, to imagine ourselves in the shoes of others, to resolve conflict, and so forth, we do not all realize that potential. Realizing that potential requires deliberate learning." --Frances Moore Lappe & Paul Martin DuBois, 1994 (both are Goddard board members)