

# Event Details

- **Event Name**: Justice, Character, and the Art of Disagreement
- **Event Start and End Date**: Tue, 17 Feb, 2026 at 04:00 pm
- **Event Description**: How do we engage deep moral disagreements with curiosity rather than contempt? How does the cardinal virtue of justice guide us toward right relationships and the common good across divides in diverse democracies? This panel brings together diverse voices whose vocational journeys embody the intersection of character formation, engagement with diversity, and justice in action. Drawing on their diverse values, traditions, worldviews, and experiences, panelists will explore how the virtue of justice equips individuals and communities for ethical leadership across difference while honoring human dignity and advancing the common good.

 

Panelists:

Aaron Cobb, Senior Scholar of Character, Educating Character Initiative: A philosopher and national leader in character education, Dr. Aaron D. Cobb serves as Senior Scholar of Character for the Educating Character Initiative, where he partners with institutions across the country to design and strengthen character-focused programs rooted in their distinctive missions. In this role, he develops professional learning resources for faculty and staff while contributing to emerging scholarship on civic virtues and the social dynamics that shape moral disagreement. Before transitioning to nonprofit work, Dr. Cobb spent fourteen years at Auburn University at Montgomery, where he was Professor of Philosophy, Chair of the Department of English and Philosophy, Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program, and co-director of multiple grants funded by the John Templeton Foundation and Wake Forest University. His scholarship spans moral and intellectual virtues—including hope, humility, compassion, hospitality, and solidarity—and his current research examines forms of exemplarity and the interpersonal conditions that support virtuous civic engagement. Dr. Cobb holds degrees in philosophy and psychology from Greenville University, Western Michigan University, and Saint Louis University.

 

Shira Hoffer, Founder &amp; Executive Director, The Viewpoints Project: A dialogue practitioner and emerging national voice on civic disagreement, Shira Hoffer is the Founder and Executive Director of The Viewpoints Project, building on her earlier work founding the Hotline for Israel/Palestine to help young people approach conflict with curiosity and care. A graduate in Social Studies and Religion at Harvard University, she served on Dean Rakesh Khurana’s Intellectual Vitality Committee, where she advised and presented strategies for fostering constructive disagreement across ideological and religious differences. She is a former fellow and research assistant with the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics’ Intercollegiate Civil Disagreement Program and a practicing mediator in Massachusetts courts. Shira has facilitated interfaith and Israel/Palestine dialogue initiatives, and her senior thesis explored differences in campus speech behaviors among religious and secular students, reflecting her broader interest in how civic norms, religious identity, and moral reasoning shape contemporary disagreements.

 

Gloria Vargas, Founder &amp; Executive Director, Care in Action USA: A community advocate shaped by her own experience of homelessness, Gloria Vargas is the Founder and Executive Director of Care in Action USA, a grassroots organization serving unhoused women, children, and families across South Florida. Since 2012, Gloria—alongside her husband and son—has prepared and distributed more than 230,000 hot meals while offering spiritual support, resource navigation, and practical pathways toward stability. Her work extends beyond direct service: for nearly two decades she has urged policymakers to address the affordable housing crisis, drawing on lived experience and community partnerships to challenge systems that trap vulnerable families in cycles of instability. Widely recognized for her faith-driven commitment to justice, Gloria has personally funded emergency shelter for families in crisis and continues to mobilize volunteers, donors, and civic leaders toward a vision of restoration, dignity, and structural change.

 

Yohuru Williams, Distinguished University Chair &amp; Founding Director, Racial Justice Initiative: A historian, educator, and leading advocate for racial justice, Dr. Williams serves as Distinguished University Chair and Professor of History at the University of St. Thomas, where he founded the Racial Justice Initiative. Author, co-author, or editor of eleven books—including Call Him Jack: The Story of Jackie Robinson, Black Freedom Fighter and More Than a Dream, longlisted for the National Book Award—he brings deep scholarly insight to contemporary civic challenges. Dr. Williams frequently contributes to public discourse through appearances on CNN, NPR, BET, ABC, Fox Business, and the History Channel, and his academic work has been featured in the Journal of Civil and Human Rights and the American Bar Association’s Insights on Law and Society.

 

Organized and Sponsored by the Four Pillars Project and the Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies with generous funding from Interfaith America and Wake Forest University's Educating Character Initiative.

Link to event page: https://tommielink.stthomas.edu/event/11937588
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/mendota/justice-character-and-the-art-of-disagreement/200029372257722
- **Event Categories**: art, fine-arts, literary-art, contests
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 20

## Ticket Details

- **Ticket URL**: https://tommielink.stthomas.edu/event/11937588?utm_source=AllEvents.in&utm_medium=event-discovery-platform&utm_campaign=mendota-events

## Event venue details

- **city**: Mendota
- **state**: MN
- **country**: United States
- **location**: University of St. Thomas
- **lat**: 44.941095246069
- **long**: -93.189053891021
- **full address**: University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Ave,Saint Paul, Minnesota, Mendota, United States

## Event Organizer details

- **affiliate_id**: 2
- **organizer**: Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies at University of St Thomas (https://allevents.in/org/jay-phillips-center-for-interreligious-studies-at-university-of-st-thomas/13670293)

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: banner
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events2/banners/25b6af312a321395f6636e9943cb1b3e7985a07b037f720bbe8307821684e833-rimg-w1200-h675-dc080705-gmir?v=1770772181
- **Alt text**: thumbnail
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events2/banners/cf9423388c716e2964cfd490b615e33223bc3f4fc1824a6e4c2ff80511eab2c2-rimg-w300-h300-dc080705-gmir?v=1770772181

## FAQs

- **Q**: When is the event happening?
  - **A:** Tue, 17 Feb, 2026 at 04:00 pm
- **Q**: Where is the event happening?
  - **A:** University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Ave,Saint Paul, Minnesota, Mendota, United States
- **Q**: Who is organizing the event?
  - **A:** Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies at University of St Thomas
- **Q**: What type of event is this?
  - **A:** art, fine-arts, literary-art, contests
- **Q**: Where can I find ticket details about Justice, Character, and the Art of Disagreement ?
  - **A:** You can find ticket details about this event on AllEvents.

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