Upcoming Events

America at Risk:

Breaking the World Order

The Transylvania Partners for Democracy (TPD) will hold a public forum in the Rogow Room of the Transylvania County Library, Wednesday evening, February 18, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. The subject is U.S. foreign policy. 

This is the first in a series of public gatherings this year sponsored by TPD that describe the impact and consequences of major federal policies and actions for Transylvania County citizens.  

For more than 75 years, administrations of both parties generally shared a U.S. Foreign Policy based upon a rules-based American-led international order, working closely with democratic allies. The current administration’s official “2025 National Security Policy” has replaced these bipartisan policies, adopting a transactional, great-power approach emphasizing spheres of influence and economic priorities. TPD has invited three local experts, Dr. Roger Herbert,  former Ambassador Peter Chaveas, and Dr. Jordan Kuck, to draw upon their unique expertise to assess these changes. Their remarks and discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer session. 

Following a 26-year career as a Naval Special Warfare (SEAL) officer and three years as director of the Outdoor Academy in Pisgah Forest, Roger Herbert joined the faculty of the U.S. Naval Academy where he served until 2021 as the Robert T. Herres Distinguished Military Professor of Ethics.  He holds a Ph.D. in international relations and political theory from the University of Virginia.  His publications include “The Ethics of Special Ops,” (Cambridge University Press, 2023) and “Ethics at War: How Should Military Personnel Make Ethical Decisions,”(Routledge, 2024).  He is currently a Research Fellow in the Future Security Initiative at Arizona State University and serves on the Board of Trustees for Brevard College and the Eagle's Nest Foundation. Roger co-authors a monthly Substack newsletter, "Gusentine & Herbert: Notes from a Clean, Well-Lighted Place."

Peter Chaveas is a native of Philadelphia. He and his wife, Lucille, retired to become full time residents of Brevard in 2008. They met while training for the Peace Corps in the late ‘60s, an experience which led him to a 34-year career in the U.S. State Department Foreign Service, mostly in western and southern Africa but also in France, Germany and Washington. Assignments included two ambassadorships in Malawi and Sierra Leone and four years as political advisor to the Commander of U.S. Military Forces in Europe. Following retirement from the Foreign Service, he joined the Defense Department's Africa Center for Strategic Studies and retired as its director in 2008. 

Jordan Kuck is associate professor of history and chair of Humanities at Brevard College. He is an expert on the modern history of Russia, Ukraine and northeastern Europe and has contributed chapters to three recent or forthcoming books, “Dictatorship and Daily Life in Twentieth Century Europe”; “Transnational and Transatlantic Fascism in East Central and Southeastern Europe 1918–2018”; and “Food and Food Policies under 20th-Century European Dictatorships.” His work has been supported by a Fulbright Award, a U.S. Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship, as well as a grant from the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies.He grew up on a farm near Kearney, Nebraska.

            Terry Decker, a former U.S. Air Force Russian linguist and analyst, educator and specialist in organizational development will moderate the panel. 

Past TPD Events

The Uncertain Future of Health Care in Transylvania County, Thursday, August, 28, 2025 at 6:30 PM in the Rogow Room of the Transylvania County Library.

The Uncertain Future of Health Care in Transylvania County: A Fact Sheet Analyzing the Impact of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (Click on the link to view the fact sheet)

“Where do we go from here?”: A Transylvania Partners for Democracy Community Forum, Mary Jenkins Center, July 22, 7 p.m. Audience responses to the question “What are the  most important issues that you believe we should explore in the coming months?” (Click on the link to see a summary of the responses)

The Threat to American Education: Public and Private. Wednesday, May 28, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Fact Sheet on Education: Education Under Siege (Click on the link to see the entire Fact Sheet)

Protecting our Veterans and Our Forest: A Public Forum, Monday, April 28, 2025

Nancy McClean, “Why is the Right “Laying Siege to Our Institutions”?

The History that Solves the Mystery,” (Click on the link to read her presentation.) November 1, 2024.

August 29, 2024: Community Forum, “ProjectFriday, November 1, 2024 2025: It Can Happen Here”

July 10, 2024: Tom and Lib Campbell, “Have We Witnessed America’s Best Days?”

June 12, 2024: Gene Nichol, UNC Professor of Law, “The North Carolina General Assembly's War on Democracy and Equality” Mr. Nichol’s talk can be viewed here.

May 2, 2024: Dr. Dan Carter on the 2024 Presidential Election Dr. Carter’s talk can be viewed here.

Collaborative Co-sponsored Events

Save the Forest Rally, Saturday, July 5, 2025

No Kings Rally, June 14, 2025

Guard the Earth Rally, Saturday, April 1, 2025, 1-2:30 PM

Saturday, April 5, 2025 “Hands Off Transylvania Rally”

Transylvania County Courthouse, 1 -3 PM