NORTH NEWTON, Kan. – Peace Connections and KIPCOR will collaborate to open the 2025-26 KIPCOR Film Series with Join or Die.
Peace Connections and KIPCOR will collaborate to open the 2025-26 KIPCOR Film Series with Join or Die.
The screening is Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. in Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center.
Directed and produced by Pete Davis and Rebecca Davis, Join or Die is “a film about why you should join a club – and why the fate of America depends on it,” according to film publicity.
The Emmy-nominated feature documentary follows a half-century of civic unraveling in the United States through the journey of Harvard political scientist Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000).
In addition to Putnam, other influential scholars and Putnam fans appear in the film, from Priya Parker, Pete Buttigieg and former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to Jane McAlevey, Hillary Clinton and Eddie Glaude Jr.
Following the film screening, Peace Connections will host a brief talk-back session and a mini-Volunteer Fair “to highlight some of the vibrant civic organizations and nonprofits in the community and ways volunteers enhance their impact,” said Peace Connections director Kendra Davila.
Among the groups are the Newton Rotary and Lions Club, the Senior Center, the Newton Public Library, Choose Newton, the United Way, and more.
“By highlighting what Newton is best known for – community and people – we will be building a stronger network,” Davila said.
The decline in civic engagement in American society “has been a topic of conversation for decades,” Davila noted, “but further emphasized during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many social connections faded.
“This film screening will highlight the urgency and importance of being engaged with one’s community, spurring residents to volunteer and participate in civic life, perhaps in a new way.
“The Volunteer Fair will be a place to showcase a variety of opportunities offered locally, provide space to meet new people and organizations, and could be the spark plug for future engagement.”
More information on the film, including a trailer, is at https://www.joinordiefilm.com/#about
KIPCOR, the Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution at Bethel College, sponsors the film series each school year. It is free and open to the public, with a freewill offering taken to support KIPCOR and the series.
Bethel is a four-year liberal arts college founded in 1887 and is the oldest Mennonite college in North America. Bethel was the first Kansas college or university to be named a Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center, in 2021. For more information, see www.bethelks.edu
