The Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life at the University of California, Santa Barbara, promotes discussion of how ethical teachings and values relate to civic life -- at the local, national, and global levels. We are committed to the fundamental belief that public dialogue and an informed and engaged citizenry are vital to democratic society. Non-partisan and non-sectarian, the Center seeks to strengthen and extend the principles on which such diverse, modern society rests, namely, tolerance and respect for the views of others, the practice of civility, and efforts to achieve the common good.

Welcome to the Walter H. Capps Center

Celebrating the start of the 2025-2026 school year, we invite you to join us for our activities this quarter and learn more about our ongoing initiatives, which are detailed below. But first I want to share a few thoughts as we struggle to grasp the current political situation and what it means for the Capps Center.

I don’t know how to use my words right now. What words should I choose? How will they be received? If my words are deemed unpatriotic or dangerous, how might I be censored or sidelined? And if my expressions were to be challenged, would the University support me? As sage thinkers have often warned, free speech costs a great deal.

Posing such issues is not a rhetorical exercise alone. I am sincerely at a loss for words about how to use words. The Capps Center is a place and forum dedicated to open, civil discourse. But who defines and protects open and civil discourse? What becomes of discourse when the terms of engagement have shifted so vertiginously? How, in good faith, do we encourage our students and fellow citizens to find their voices at a moment when we are so careful to measure ours?

At the Capps Center we work hard to facilitate conversations and initiatives on a range of issues that impact our community. We don’t intend to stop. But we worry about how best to proceed. By what North Star do we orient now? Solidarity, inclusion, simple kindness, and a commitment to critical engagement—a list of dangerous words—will continue to be our touchstones as we seek to perpetuate the legacy of Walter H. Capps and the ideals he championed. But with a difference.

Namely, until now we have enjoyed a buffered condition, assuming entitlement to the very things we support—for example, that we can speak in open disagreement with one another, institutions, and the government without fear. One of our baseline principles has been to advocate for extending the freedoms and rights we enjoy to others who have been marginalized. Now we are taking stock of the fact that our self-certainty is shaken to the core. How do we share what we don’t possess? This predicament is a serious check on our entitlement and privilege.

Thus humbled, we ask you to join us in an effort to navigate our new circumstances together. To be frank, we don’t know what that will look like, but we know that we will have to be flexible in our thinking and supple in our planning while hewing to the fact that our mission hasn’t been diluted even while the social contract on which it rests is being corroded at every turn. For now, we will continue to offer compelling programming and pursue community-based initiatives to the best of our abilities and we are eager to have you join us.

We are excited to welcome students and community members back to campus, including new cohorts of Mendell Fellows and McCune Interns, and a new class in the Civic Engagement Scholars Program.

This quarter we are excited to host several events that are free and open to the public:

We are also co-sponsoring several other events, including:

We continue our efforts on various initiatives. This year we are foregrounding our work in three areas: (1) repatriation at UCSB and beyond; (2) programming and research on civil rights and religious freedom for AAPI communities; and (3) our project with partners at UC Irvine, the UCSB Reserve System, and several Native nations located in Payahuunadü (Owens Valley) concerning best practices in wildfire management and tribal consultation and co-stewardship. Stay tuned for developments on these initiatives and other Center activities.

In addition, we have added many new documents to our archival project, the Walter H. Capps Archives Online, which features digitized materials from the Walter Capps Papers at UCSB Library’s Special Collections.

We have also added new videos to our YouTube page, including from last spring’s events. You can find other videos of past events on UCTV and UCTV’s YouTube Playlist.

We hope to see you soon, and we welcome your thoughts and suggestions!

Sincerely,

Greg Johnson

Director

 

Fall 2025 Flier