New Jersey Senators Jon Bramnick (R21) and Joe Cryan (D20) brought their Civility Tour to campus 

October 17, 2025

by Lauren Ferguson

In the wake of the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, a bipartisan pair of New Jersey lawmakers are on a mission to bring civility back to politics and dial down the tone of political rhetoric. 

New Jersey State Senators Jon Bramnick (R-21) and Joseph Cryan (D-20), whose districts both cover portions of Union County, joined together to launch the Civility Tour in September.

On Thursday, the longtime lawmakers, who are also good friends, were at Ramapo College to share their message with a group of eager and engaged Ramapo students.

“We’re here today, and we’re moving around the state because we want to talk about issues and how you talk about issues and how you solve problems,” said Bramnick.

The event included a question and answer session, where Roadrunners asked the lawmakers about their thoughts on issues ranging from the death penalty to gun violence to the regulation of E-bikes. 

Though their individual views differed, they talked them through, without shouting, fighting or labeling each other. In the past, the duo have worked together on legislation to find common ground.

That example is what the pair hope college students will look to, and emulate.

“Part of the reason for today is, I hope what we do is get away from the labels and get more into the discussions,” Cryan said. 

Bramnick said that in his experience, 80% of people he meets are moderate in their views, and he would “love to see the 80% in the middle stand up and rise up against the extremists.”

“I’m worried now that unless we start to have these discussions, that people are going to get more and more violent, because they’re going to be more and more ginned up by their respective support groups,” Bramnick said.

The discussion resonated with the students, most of whom raised their hand when the senators asked who had seen the video of the Kirk shooting.

“I think this is a great way to bring people together and not polarize their opinions and see that you can agree on some things, and have a common ground and meet in the middle, and that’s okay, and that’s what you need to push forward and become better, said Julian Buitrago ‘27, a political science major from Union, NJ.

Cryan said he was impressed with the level of engagement from the Ramapo students.

“We hope we make an impact on that next generation of leaders. It was pretty obvious here. The next generation is here,” Cryan said.Ramapo College President Cindy Jebb said building relationships and trust are the keys to having open, respectful dialogue like the discussions held Thursday.

“If you cultivate relationships, you get to know people. If you get to know people, you have trust. If you have trust, you can have conversations like this,” Jebb said. “And I would just tell you that institutions of higher learning are dedicated and focused on this specifically, because if it doesn’t happen here in the higher education space, it’s not going to happen in society.”

NJASCU Executive Director Jennifer Keyes-Maloney, NJ Senator Jon Bramnick, RCNJ President Cindy Jebb, NJ Senator Joe Cyran, RCNJ VP of Government Relations Pat O’Connor