ETSU launches podcast on civility and citizenship
Politically Speaking: Episode 1
As many across the nation celebrate National Civility Month, a time to highlight kindness even in moments of disagreement, East Tennessee State University is launching a political podcast challenging students to dig into ideas of personal freedom and engaged citizenship.
The podcast is hosted by Dr. Daryl A. Carter, a professor, associate dean and widely respected scholar of political history.
“Politically Speaking: An ETSU Podcast about Freedom and Citizenship,” is available here with guests Dr. Mark Fulks, university counsel, and Hunter Turgeon, Student Government Association president.
“We are in a moment of intense political division as the United States approaches the November elections,” Carter said. “Many people believe politics is a nasty and mean profession. In this podcast, we’re going to tackle some important questions in a manner that exemplifies civility and decency.”
Through early November, the university will release a weekly episode on a range of topics. Some of those include:
- How to argue and disagree productively
- The point of government and the role it plays
- Freedom of speech
- The danger of extremism and partisanship
- How to make a difference in the world
Guests will include community leaders, ETSU faculty and staff and students. Each episode runs about half an hour.
“These are challenging times, to be sure,” Carter said. “We hope this podcast will be a model for the region and beyond when it comes to good civic engagement – even on topics that produce controversy.”
The university strives to empower and foster an inclusive environment. Many events on campus, including Civility Week in the spring semester and the award-winning ETSU Votes initiative, aim to do just that.
Weekly episodes will be uploaded here and can also be found wherever you listen to podcasts.
“We invite you, no matter your political background or affiliation, to engage with us on ‘Politically Speaking,’” Carter said.
Subscribe to Politically Speaking!
Transcript
Richard Lovette
Welcome to Politically Speaking, an ETSU podcast about freedom and citizenship. Hosted by Dr. Daryl Carter, a professor and scholar of political history.
Each week, we dive into the essential topics of personal freedom and engaged citizenship, exploring what it means to be an active and responsible citizen in today's world.
Join us as we talk politics with members of the ETSU community, asking important questions and seeking meaningful answers.
Let's get started with today's episode.
Dr. Carter
Hello! I'm with Hunter Turgeon and Mark Fulks today. Welcome, gentlemen.
Hunter
Thank you.
Dr. Fulks
Thank you. Glad to be here.
Dr. Carter
Well, Hunter is the SGA president and a current ETSU student working towards a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a double major in economics and finance.
He's also a 2021 graduate of Science Hill High School.
Welcome, Hunter.
Hunter
Thank you.
Dr. Carter
Could you please tell us a little bit more about yourself? What brought you to ETSU?
Hunter
To be honest, kind of in high school, I wasn't I wasn't super ... I was a good student, good grades.
Focused on soccer, wasn't really looking like, where exactly am I going to go for college? So when it kind of got around to that time, I really just, for me, it was affordability. I also enjoyed the campus, and I moved here in 2012 when I was nine.
I've been in Johnson City since, and ETSU, that place where I played soccer every weekend over on the intramural fields. I was here all the time. Had friends at UH, went to UH for nine weeks at the very beginning of my high school career. And so it was a place that was kind of close to me, close to my heart, and then it doesn't get much more affordable than ETSU.
So, that was a that was a very strong driver.
Dr. Carter
So you said you came here in ninth grade. Where were you at before?
Hunter
Well, I came here in fourth grade. I was in fourth grade. Yeah. Okay. So I was in
Pennsylvania.
I was born in Scranton and lived there for the first nine years of my life. And then my dad, my mom and dad both kind of - I have an aunt down here - and she needed help with her business. So my mom came down, wanted to come down here.
And my, my mom just kept leaving an application, my dad's an engineer, so my mom kept leaving an application for Eastman up on his computer. And after taking it out, probably for a month or two, he finally decided to apply.
And the rest is history.
Dr. Carter
So we're sure glad you're here.
Hunter
Thank you. I'm glad I made this transition. I don't know where I would be if I lived
up on a top of a mountain, middle of nowhere. I think we maybe had, I was I was close
to Scranton, I think we maybe had 800 people where I lived ... would have been much
different than I than I am today.
So happy we made that move.
Dr. Carter
We're so glad you're here.
And also with us is Mark Fulks who is the university counsel for East Tennessee State University and has been in that role since August 2019. He's a native of Elizabethton and spent years working as a practicing attorney.
He was senior counsel in the State of Tennessee's Criminal Justice Division from 2000 to 2012, and litigated more than 50 cases in the Tennessee Supreme Court and over 300 in a Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, the Tennessee Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Welcome, Mark.
Dr. Fulks
Thank you. It's good to be here.
Dr. Carter
Tell us a little bit about what led you to East Tennessee State and about your career.
Dr. Fulks
Well, so, I graduated from Elizabethton High School a couple of years ago.
And, after that, the, my group of friends, we just sort of, I think none of us really had a big a major plan for our educations, and we just all sort of defaulted to ETSU.
It was close. We could live at home. It was affordable. I graduated in the fall of 1991.
And from there went on to law school and practiced law, but I continued my education as well.
And, eventually, after being gone for about 20 years, was recruited to a law firm in Johnson City. So that's when I returned home. And given my ... when the job opened at ETSU. it just seemed like sort of a natural progression in my career because I had, in addition to law school, I had gone on and gotten a PhD as well.
So it was kind of the convergence to be able to come back to a campus of both my legal side and my academic side. So and I've been here for just over five years now, and I've loved every minute of it.
Dr. Carter
Excellent. And you also do some teaching for us?
Dr. Fulks
Yes, I do. I regularly teach in the political science department. I teach, law and the judicial system in the fall, and I teach constitutional law in the spring. And I've also taught, the law-based courses ... I've taught in the College of Business and Technology, and I've taught in the, College of Education as well.
Dr. Carter
Okay. Thank you, Mark.
Hunter, what is the dream for you? Where are you going from here?
Hunter
That's a great question. So I definitely, what kind of led me to finance ... during my orientation, I was actually a computer science major, and found out really quickly that I love talking far too much. And I think there's roles where you can do that in computer science, but in business it's key. And I still love numbers.
I kind of landed on finance and then kind of later on added that economics major, and a few minors to go along with it.
But I did an internship this past summer in Denver with an investment firm.
And I was kind of doing equity research. Really enjoyed the challenges that that presented. But at the same time, it was a lot of that research aspect. I, in the past, I did one with Morgan Stanley that was wealth management.
Love that kind of client interaction, always kind of talking to people, getting to
meet new people. And I don't know exactly what I want to do, but I know that I really
want to do something
that is heavily engaging with clients, with teammates, with other people around the
firm,
and that's something that I really value and something I'm going to look for my future
career.
Dr. Carter
Wonderful. And I, I will tell you, a lot of people take a look at equity, private equity, or I look at venture capital and they have a lot of negative connotations to that. Or they look at the law and they say, well, the guy's just chasing ambulance or he's going to rip me off of in my settlement.
But what we find in both of you is that, you know, in your practice of law, you're defending the state, you're defending students, you're defending the institution, in a way that protects the public good and the public interest. And what we don't think about in the business side in terms of equity and capital and things of that nature, is how much that contributes to our gross national and domestic products, what it contributes to our communities, businesses, non-profits, etc. So I'm excited to hear you talking about, your own experience with that.
And, Mark, you your experience with the law and, how you contribute to the university. So let's get into it a little bit, gentlemen.
What does government mean to you? What is the best form of government and why?
Dr. Fulks
Well, I guess, since you're both looking at me, I'll take this question first to get us started. You know, government is just broadly conceived, is the way in which society comes together and sets rules, for the lives, the businesses of its citizens. They come together for, protection, in part, whether that's national defense or the police forces or, the, emergency responders, all of that.
You know, those basic services is at a certain level. And then the government, however it's formed, decides, which, you know, what additional services are going to be provided. And there are, throughout history, many, many forms of government have been out there, even in our own country. We've actually, I would contend, seen many different forms of our own government as it has changed over time. And to me, well, I think the best government would be is what our founding fathers originally envisioned.
And I mean, almost from a pure sense, of course it wasn't perfect. We weren't founded by perfect people, but the system itself, which theoretically has the people at the top and giving power to the government by their consent and remain retaining the full sovereignty is the best, you know, way to maintain a check on the government.
You know, we've drifted far apart from that, in our 200 plus years now.
And so to such an extent where it seems like everybody has an issues with, with, what our government does and you know, the policy preferences, we are very, very, rigidly divided these days. I think some of that is owing to the, to the changes that have taken place over time. And if we got back to a smaller, a limited federal government and more vibrant state governments, the original design being citizens on the top, we'd be maintaining the power granting, limited power to the federal government, granting, you know, more power to state and to local governments, because the closer the government is to the people, the more responsive it is to the people's requests.
Dr. Carter
Okay, Hunter, what do you think?
Hunter
Well, that's going to be difficult to follow up. So I think for me, when it comes to government, I think at least when it comes to, in my opinion, what the best form is, is definitely a democracy with some sort of elected trustee. And I think that's important simply because when you have that, you want a democracy, you want the people to be the ones running the country.
However, they just don't have the time, the resources to put in all the work it takes to get educated on all the issues. Obviously, people do, but it's important to have those trustees, those elected officials who they put their trust into, and they can do all that research and they can you, kind of, elect someone with your same principles, and they can do the research and form those opinions and do that work for you. I think that's super important when it comes to government. I think it depends on the level of government we're talking about, whether it's federal, state, local. Here at ETSU, because I think that's what kind of is most important to us. The local government, in my opinion, is something that we kind of overlook a lot of times and kind of get stuck on these federal levels, which impacts us a lot.
But really getting down to the local elections and getting people in there who want to see, at least in my opinion, ETSU thrive, the community thrive is something that's super important to me, but hard to follow up Mark on that one.
I think he covered a lot of kind of what government is.
Dr. Fulks
I think you held your own.
Dr. Carter
Absolutely, absolutely.
And when we think about East Tennessee State, for our listeners, we have our own internal governance, structure with the president, with the faculty Senate the Student Government Association, the academic council, the University Council, and the broad concept of shared governance in which faculty are able to, put in their own ideas about how the institutions should, function.
So with that, I'm going to stay with you, Hunter, and ask you to talk a little bit about the First Amendment. You know, there's been a lot of talk in recent years about, you know, freedom of speech, freedom of expression and censorship and all that. Can you tell us, to you, what is freedom of speech mean?
Hunter
Absolutely. I think for me, freedom of speech is having the right to express yourself in a nonviolent, and a lot of times, I think it's super beneficial to be in a positive way. Obviously, you know, we have some negative ways, and you can feel free to do that.
But a lot of times on campus, we'll see, Mark is very aware of all of it, we'll see people who I don't think fully grasp what freedom of speech is, what freedom of expression is. I think oftentimes freedom of speech is kind of misconstrued.
For me, it's freedom of speech, freedom of expression. You have the right to say stuff. At ETSU, we're a public university, and if you want to say something, as long as it's not, inflicting violence or threat on someone, you can, you have the right to do so. And I think that's a great, great thing that we have here in our country and in our community, students being able to express how they feel, the students with differing opinions, being able to come together at ETSU.
This year, I know it's an election year, probably a lot going to arise with that,
but one of the really cool things that we focus on and that our administration is
pushing, we already have Civility Week and kind of, trying to make those discussions.
Last year in SGA, we actually, Trent led a series that was, living room conversations.
So it was bringing people together
of differing opinions.
And he mostly kind of went for people with those, you know, invited our YDSA, invited our Turning Point, got them in the same room and asked questions in a formatted in a way that those conversations could be had. Because I think a lot of times you kind of just see very far ends of the spectrum, and those clash against each other. I think it's important to get that in the same room. So, this year I actually Dr. Noland recently came and talked about it.
So they're trying to do one and one, which is basically in a long gated version of Civility Week. And that's kind of how it's been explained to me, with a series of events that are getting students to come together and talk about it and express that freedom of speech. So for me, it's something that's super important, especially on a college campus. In an election year, absolutely every student, faculty and staff member should have the right to express their views in a constitutionally protected way.
Dr. Carter
Mark, as we think about this issue of freedom of speech, how is the state currently viewing this matter in light of recent laws such as the Divisive Concepts Bill, but also just this general framework of, our concern that many states have about how far can you go and still be protected, what's happening in Tennessee right now?
Dr. Fulks
Well, Tennessee and it's not necessarily what's going on is not necessarily unique to Tennessee. It's - it is part of a sort of a bigger movement. I think it's also part of the natural give and take and what I, you know, I always describe myself as a, as a free speech, First Amendment purist, meaning, I see very little room for any limitations on people's expression. That puts me at odds with almost everybody I know at one point or another, because everybody's for free speech ... when it's speech that they agree with. And most people are against speech when it's speech that they disagree with.
It may seem that might, you know, oversimplify it, but, the point being, it seems like everybody, everybody defines the limits to free speech. So we are in a time where, our government is pushing back a little bit and trying to redefine the parameters of what they consider acceptable speech on campus, but they have, always acknowledged that they come up against what happens in the classroom and that's where the First Amendment and academic freedom and the Campus Free Speech Protection Act, generally, kick in.
So that right now they're reshaping what happens outside of the classroom and putting some constraints on it. But they still have recognized that the academic pursuits are protected.
Dr. Carter
Thank you. And, that freedom of speech issue just gets into so many different areas about who we are, what we are, where we're headed, where we've been. It is so integral to, you know, our lives as American citizens.
I want to turn this into the campus for a quick second. And, Hunter, could you speak to a little bit not so much just about the First Amendment, but where is the SGA right now?
What are the big-ticket items that you're working on? You mentioned you just spoke
with the president not too long ago. What's going on in the SGA?
Hunter
Everyone's coming back on campus. It's super exciting time kind of getting back into things getting everyone on board. But some things that have happened recently, for me, I've always been a huge proponent of internships and getting students as opportunities, and that's such a broad category. But we had a meeting with Career Services recently and some exciting things are happening.
We, got some funding for networking nights for student orgs to be able to host their own, so they can, bring employers on campus and Career Services and partnering with them in that funding it, helping make those connections.
We also just had a fund come about that is going to sponsor and give scholarships to students who have unpaid internships, to help them through with that.
And then I recently met with Dr. Keller in the Honors College, and we are looking at doing global internship opportunities for students and making them affordable and accessible. So a lot with internships. Had some meetings with Sodexo, a lot coming with different dining options. Some new places coming to campus, some exciting new meal swipe opportunities. And they were looking at some academic policies from restructuring CSI 1100.
We recently, last year, implemented a syllabus bank that's going to help students know what they're kind of signing up for when they register for classes. We're looking at online course fees and how that structured. And then one final big thing for me is campus traditions, and having that culture on campus. I think, a lot of times, ETSU is a heavily a commuter campus. This year, I'm really excited because we're going to have 3,400 students on campus, and a lot of that being freshmen and sophomores and getting them heavily involved on campus.
So as they kind of become upperclassmen, they're able to put that back into those who come after them and have some things coming up or planning a Navy out, I guess it'll be called a blue out. We've got, Athletics gave us permission to use the football fields for a big event. We're looking at a Culp lock-in – just all kinds of events to get students engaged and get them to have pride in their campus.
Those commuter students, I'm one of them, you know, as a freshman, I'd go to class, I'd go home, and it's how can we get students to stay in here and create that campus culture that everybody wants in a university?
And that's something that we're really looking forward to, kind of laying a foundation for.
Dr. Carter
Well, thank you. And we have, time for one last question. And it's not a small one. What is freedom? And what does it look like to you, freedom?
Dr. Fulks
Well, that's, that is not a small question. You know, one of my favorite quotes from
the founding era, and I'll probably botch it or paraphrase it a little bit, but, and
I don't remember which of one of the founders said it, but it was - expressed the
preference for a dangerous liberty to a quiet servitude dude. So when you put these
two concepts on, on a spectrum, on the one hand, you have, you know, an unbridled
freedom where anybody is free to do whatever they want,whenever they want, however
they want.
And then on the far side of that, you have, you know, you get into a totalitarianism
approach where everybody's actions are strictly regulated. So, but freedom for most
of us in the Western world falls somewhere closer to the complete unbridled freedom.
But we do, as a society, come together and we agree to limits on that. And those limits
usually fall along the lines of, honesty, integrity, respecting the rights of others,
respecting the persons and properties of others and realizing that a, a free, functioning
society does require some level of respect accorded to, you know, our friends, our
family, our coworkers and, fellow students across campus realizing that it applies
to all manner of when people come to this culture that we are open and accepting of,
of other people, other cultures, other religions, but we can come together within
those limited constraints and function together as a society.
So I think, that's probably a bit of a convoluted way to think of it, but I think that's what how I view, how I view freedom. As you know, it exists, you know, on our campus here and, and, the United States.
Hunter
I think Mark put it pretty perfectly. One of the beautiful things about living in this country, in this state, is the level of freedom we have here. And I think having freedom and to the level that we have, it is a larger proponent of happiness.
To be completely honest, I think without that, we don't necessarily get to live out the lives we want to and that freedom gives us the ability to, well, if you want, do nothing, go enjoy your day. I mean, of course, there's always consequences that come with something like that, but you have the freedom to do that. You also have the freedom to go get whatever you want, to go chase your dreams, to go out every day and live life to the fullest.
And I think that's one of the beautiful things about life in the Western world is you have those freedoms and you get to express yourself. Of course, there, like Mark said, this limitation to that, you got to show respect. You can't infringe upon people's rights. You can't break the laws. Well, I guess you can break the laws. You have the freedom to do so. But there are consequences.
So I think freedom for me is being able to do something that you want to do, something that makes you happy and something that fulfills your life. And I think that's something that we have.
Dr. Carter
Well, what I'm hearing from both of you on this point is that freedom must be balanced
with some responsibility, whether it's government imposed or it's morality or it's
something else there. There's accountability for freedom. And I think that's a great
place for us end. Gentlemen, thank you for speaking politically.
Hunter
Thank you.
Dr. Fulks
Thank you for having us.
Dr. Carter
Thank you for joining us on this episode of "Politically Speaking" an ETSU podcast about freedom and citizenship. We hope you enjoyed our discussion and found it thought provoking.
Before we wrap up, we want to remind you about ETSU Votes, an initiative led by the office of Leadership and Civic Engagement at ETSU. ETSU Votes is dedicated to fostering active citizenship by providing resources and support for voter registration, engagement and education.
Last year, ETSU was honored by Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett for our outstanding efforts to promote voter registration. Remember, your voice matters, and participating in the electoral process is a powerful way to make it heard.
To learn more about ETSU Votes and how you can get involved, visit etsu.edu/votes. Thank you for listening.
Be sure to tune in to our next episode as we continue to explore the crucial concepts and topics of personal freedom and engage citizenship. Until then, stay informed, stay engaged, and keep speaking politically.
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East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.
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