Vision & Values

Vision

The GRACE Project leverages the ancient, liberal art of rhetoric to seek truth, solve problems and build community.

Mission

We equip students to think for themselves and advocate for their neighbors.

Values

Generous Community

GRACE is built on the conviction that good argument begins with genuine regard for the people in the room. In a GRACE community:

• We love our neighbors — recognizing that the person across the table, however different in perspective, deserves our respect, our attention and our care.
• We seek concordance — not by papering over real disagreement, but by listening long enough to find the common ground beneath it.
• We listen generously — assuming the best of those we engage and giving their ideas a fair hearing before we respond.
• We understand each other, even when we disagree — because understanding is not the same as agreement, and both matter.

Honest Arguments

GRACE takes truth seriously. We believe that argument done well is an act of love toward the truth, toward one another, and toward the communities we seek to serve. In a GRACE community:

• We care about the truth enough to do research — arriving at conversations prepared, informed and willing to be changed by what we find.
• We care about each other enough to argue fairly — refusing to misrepresent, manipulate or win at the cost of the relationship.
• We care about our communities enough to argue publicly — bringing our convictions into shared spaces, not retreating into echo chambers, because democracy depends on citizens who will speak.

Winsome Persuasion

GRACE believes that how you argue matters as much as what you argue. Rhetoric is a craft, and we practice it with intention and care. In a GRACE community:

• We argue with style — attending to language, form and delivery, because clarity and elegance serve the truth rather than obscure it.
• We center the audience — recognizing that effective communication begins not with what we want to say, but with what the listener needs to hear.
• We speak in love — letting charity shape not just our conclusions but our tone, our timing and our willingness to engage.