Recognizing Leaders in Open Inquiry
As the University of New England fosters a culture of open inquiry, free expression, and respectful debate, we celebrate members of our community who embody these values.
The President’s Award for Constructive Discourse, established by UNE President James Herbert, is an annual award that recognizes faculty and professional staff who promote robust, civil conversations about difficult topics, either inside or outside the classroom.
Each spring, students, faculty, and professional staff make nominations. The following fall, one member of the faculty and one member of UNE’s professional staff received the honor along with a $1,000 honorarium.
2025 Recipients
Ken Courtney, John Waterman, and Shannon Zlotkowski
John and Ken developed and team-taught an undergraduate course focused on the most recent presidential election, with the goal of helping students engage constructively with the many divisive, hot-button issues surrounding the election. The course took place during the height of the campaign season, and the election occurred while the class was underway. The topic was of particular relevance to our undergraduate students as many of them prepared to vote for the first time.
Topics covered were wide-ranging, including, among others: populism, global affairs, reproductive rights, threats to democracy, and the Supreme Court. Courtney and Waterman contextualized these topics from various perspectives with respect to events unfolding in real time, as well as in relation to larger historical and political forces. They encouraged active discussion and debate among students. This course exemplifies the approach that both Ken and John take in other courses, encouraging robust discussion from various viewpoints.
In a year marked by a particularly fraught political and cultural climate, where respectful engagement has been too often replaced by either expressions of anger on the one hand or a retreat to silence on the other, Zlotkowski remained steadfast in creating inclusive contexts where individuals of varying backgrounds, beliefs, identities, and perspectives are empowered to speak, listen, and grow. She challenges students, professional staff, and faculty alike to stretch beyond their comfort zones — pushing toward a more nuanced understanding of themselves and one another.
Zlotkowski recently launched the Community and Belonging Student Fellow program — inclusive of undergraduate and graduate students on both campuses — expanding her impact across the institution and reinforcing UNE’s commitment to dialogue grounded in dignity and respect. She also served as a moderator for a President’s Forum event that focused inward, on controversial topics around the nature of the academy itself. Her support of cultural initiatives across campus reflects a deep understanding that true belonging cannot be taken for granted but must be actively promoted and protected.
Past Award Recipients
Wanda Anderson
Wanda Anderson is a clinical professor of Social Work in the College of Professional Studies. Throughout her more than 20 years as a faculty member in the School of Social Work, Wanda incorporated a focus on constructive discourse in her teaching, scholarship, and service. She created and facilitated training workshops for both students and clinicians on how to have difficult conversations with patients, families, non-profit organizations, and vulnerable populations. These evolved to incorporate themes of diversity, tolerance, respectful dialogue, appreciative inquiry, and constructive debate.
Wanda approaches her work from a place of mutual respect and authentic communication. Her nominator wrote, “Wanda is willing and able to be challenged while engaging others from a place of humility and grace.” She emphasizes constructive discourse in social work in ways that transcend political and personal preferences, ideology, and social standing. Good social workers must be able to approach every client with an open mind and genuine curiosity, even when doing so challenges their own values and perspectives. Wanda is known for her use of experiential approaches such as role playing to teach these skills. For example, she will often ask participants to assume a persona that is very different from their own and to navigate a tenuous situation involving conflicting points of view.
Ed Silva
Ed Silva is head coach of UNE’s men’s basketball team and UNE’s NCAA Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee. Over the past 12 years, Ed has led the Nor’easters to six of the 11 conference post-season appearances in program history. And he has been an important presence, teacher, and role model when it comes to encouraging members of our community to have conversations across differences. As one of Ed’s colleagues wrote in nominating him, “Coach Silva approaches everything with a sincere and engaged sense of curiosity. He is never simply satisfied with learning what you think, but always intrigued as to why you think or feel the way you do, which opens up thoughtful and civil discussions.”
Drawing on his background as a sociologist and social worker, Ed has facilitated discussions and training sessions for UNE student-athletes and professional staff on topics ranging from religious differences, neurodiversity, socio-economic differences, racial and cultural diversity, and various current events. He has also made an impact in the wider community, too, facilitating diversity-sensitivity talks for external groups like the Biddeford and Saco school departments and the Biddeford Fire Department.
Marc Ebenfield
Marc Ebenfield, director of UNE's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, was selected for the professional staff category for his work around constructive discourse surrounding the center’s educational outreach efforts. Ebenfield has provided faculty and professional staff with the tools to foster conversations on difficult topics both inside and outside the classroom.
He has organized “Difficult Discussions” brown bag sessions and “Lunch and Learn” events related to promoting constructive conversations. One session encapsulated the spirit of the award, emphasizing the creation of a "respectful, collaborative, and critical learning space in which to develop more comfort with these topics" with students.
Ebenfield also compiled a resource for faculty to use to help facilitate constructive conversations about challenging subjects and is actively working on a foundation grant proposal to further support these efforts.
Andrew Rotondo
Andrew Rotondo, an associate teaching professor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the faculty category for his deliberate efforts to encourage thoughtful discourse in his classes.
In his nomination letter submitted by one of his students, Rotondo is celebrated for encouraging students to challenge or defend ideas they do not necessarily hold while also teaching them to have intellectual conversations about current events. Rotondo also champions ways for students to constructively disagree with one another.
Beyond the classroom, he serves as the academic advisor to UNE's Philosophy Club, where he promotes a forum for students to discuss contemporary topics in ethics and morality. The club's semesterly debates provide students with exposure to constructive disagreements on relevant issues.