CMC Trustee David Dreier ’75 honored Utah Gov. Spencer Cox with the Dreier Roundtable Civility Award during a special Athenaeum luncheon on Monday. The honor “recognizes public servants who engage in a vigorous clash of ideas” while understanding that “their political adversary is not their enemy.”
Dreier shared how Gov. Cox, a Republican, co-earned the award for partnering with Democratic Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado (who received his award on Oct. 28). Cox and Polis worked together on the Disagree Better Initiative through the National Governors Association. “The leadership that you and Jared are showing now has been a model for anyone who is engaged in public service,” said Dreier, who served in Congress from 1981-2013.
Following the award presentation, Cox and Dreier joined a conversation moderated by Aditya Pai ’13 on the importance of civil discourse in U.S. politics.
“I didn’t get elected to be the Republican governor of Utah. I was elected to be the governor of Utah. My job is to represent the entire state, not just the Republican Party,” Cox said, emphasizing the importance of changing voters’ minds rather than aiming to please their party’s base.
“I’m a Madisonian, and the way our government is formulated is to require us to build coalitions, so that no one party will ever be too powerful,” he continued. “We’ve seen those pendulums swing, and I think it’s just so important to stay curious, to stay humble, to keep building those coalitions.”