President’s Award for Constructive Discourse

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 receive the honor along with a $1,000 honorarium.

2024 Recipients

Wanda Anderson 

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

Headshot of 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.

Past Award Recipients