“Dialogue, Not Debate” will happen Thursday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Theater. This year, the Daily Campus will partner with the Feminist Equality Movement, Mustangs For Life, as well as other SMU and Dallas-area organizations.

Two years ago, Dialogue, Not Debate, a civil conversation between pro-choice and pro-life advocates, was started by the Feminist Equality Movement. FEM started this event after students requested they respond to Mustangs For Life’s annual display of wooden crosses called the “Memorial of Innocents.” Each cross is supposed to stand for a fetus “lost” to abortion. FEM wanted to open up dialogue rather than do another counter-lawn display.

The past two occurrences of Dialogue, Not Debate have embodied the event’s civil intention. This event has become a massive partnership between six to eight SMU organizations, some of which send representatives to speak.

This year, the Daily Campus is partnering for Dialogue, Not Debate. We have nominated a professor of journalism–our faculty adviser Lauren Smart–as moderator. Past moderators include former FEM President Julia Cantú and Professor Ben Voth, head of SMU Debate.