Charlotte Optimist: The College That’s Betting on Better Arguments
March 3, 2026
- Author
- Jay Pfeifer
Photography by Logan Cyrus
Last week, when Davidson College launched the D.G. and Harriet Wall Martin Institute for Public Good, Michael Graff, the founder of the year-old weekly newsletter The Charlotte Optimist, was in the audience at the Duke Family Performance Hall for the celebration.
Graff and Optimist photographer Logan Cyrus had already been on campus a few weeks earlier, taking a close look at how the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative — a major component of the new Martin Institute — is helping students learn how to productively engage with one another on difficult and contentious issues.
The resulting story, published on March 1, presented a deeply human and comprehensive look at the work Davidson already does to develop effective, ethical leaders and citizens while providing a glimpse of how the Martin Institute will continue this mission for generations to come. Read the full story.
