In a recent article at Inside Higher Ed ("A Wall of Civility"), Mitch Smith identifies a sign of hope in the Sunshine State: the University of Florida is hosting a Knight Foundation-sponsored interactive display designed to encourage civil discourse on the issues of our day. The university’s Bob Graham Center for Public Service is addressing hot-button controversies, while enabling an ethos where cooler heads prevail.

Here’s how it works: Someone at the Gainesville campus' Pugh Hall goes up to one of the screens and replies either to another commenter’s post or the Wall’s current topic. A wall-mounted camera then takes a picture and posts the comment along with the person’s first name. Commenters can also log in through Facebook, and Henderson hopes to have a mobile app functioning in the next month. In time, she wants to connect all of Florida’s public universities with the Wall.

The goal is for young people to become more civically active while eschewing a tendency toward partisan nastiness.

That seems a worthy goal. So, keep tabs on www.civildebatewall.com, and let’s hope for a renewal of civility in the next generation.