Leadership Initiative 3

Angelica Navarro

Elizabeth Velasquez
Mayra Villarreal
Ethnic 21: MW 3:00 p.m. 4:15 p.m.

On Wednesday October 15th my Ethnic studies class had another gold leadership
presentation class on controversy with civility. In this presentation we were taught the meaning
of controversy with civility and were even given an activity based on this presentation. I believe
that this presentation will better my understanding of how to become a leader.
Controversy with civility means to hear people with different views and beliefs within
certain groups and have an open mind when listening to these people. Civility means to set
ground rules among the group; controversy is the different views each and every person has.
Sometimes when people are expressing their views or beliefs that are different from our own we
tend to defend our own views and beliefs which then can lead into an argument with others in the
group. In the presentation we were given we were also taught how to control our temper before it
leads to an argument. For example if you feel heated while someone else begins to express their
views the best thing to do is listen to what they have to say and count to ten in your mind. Other
things that you can do to insure that an argument doesnt break out is to use neutral language, be
open to compromise, avoid gossip, pick your battles, etc.
In this presentation we were given an example of what could happen when we have
different views on something that we dont all agree on. The activity we were given was to
pretend that it was an apocalyptic type of situation and you are forming your groups. We were
given a piece of paper that had a bunch of characters that all had different qualities. For example
there was a 61 year old doctor who was a general practitioner however he had already had two
strokes. Then there was an 8 year old boy who was still in elementary school. There were also a
couple of nurses that had different backgrounds. So it was up to us to choose up to seven people
to join our apocalyptic group. Once we were done choosing our groups we then shared who we
chose and why we chose these characters with the people around us. At first we were able to

share who we chose calmly but once people started to say that the characters we chose werent
fit for an apocalyptic group thats when the arguments came out. There was yelling and even
name calling because people didnt know how to defend what characters they chose correctly.
I believe that this presentation was helpful because it taught us what to do when we are in
this type of situation. I now know what to do to control my temper and how to have a civilized
debate when it comes to topics where people have different, strong views about. As a college
student I know that I will be in plenty of debates but it is up to the students to have a calm adult
like debate that doesnt lead to yelling or name calling. For example when it comes to certain
topics that people have very strong views about whether it be because of religion or political
views then that is when the debates can get heated. Abortion, death penalty, same sex marriage,
etc. are just few of the many topics that can cause heated debates among people. It causes
controversy and sometimes even chaos if people dont know how to handle peoples different
beliefs. Thanks to this presentation I know how to handle these types of situations and how to
control my temper. I will hear everyones opinion and then have a civilized debate about it.