From left: Former Michigan Govs. Rick Snyder, Jennifer Granholm, John Engler and Jim Blanchard will gather in Lansing next week to call for political civility. (AP file photos)

LANSING — Four former Michigan governors will join forces next week to push for civil discourse amid rising national political tensions that organizers say is “pulling us apart” as a country.

Former Republican Govs. John Engler and Rick Snyder, along with former Democratic Govs. Jim Blanchard and Jennifer Granholm, will speak at the DoubleTree Hotel in Lansing on Feb. 4 to advocate for “fostering greater civility throughout our communities,” according to an announcement from the Michigan Civility Coalition.

“There’s such division in our country right now,” former state Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton, told Bridge Michigan. “We’re really hoping to turn down the temperature and come together as Michiganders so that we can solve problems in a civil manner.”

Those interested in attending the free event can register online at micivic.org/event. It will run from 11:30 am to 1 pm and include a luncheon and networking opportunity.

Should the event reach capacity, which Schuitmaker estimated was around 200 people, a virtual option will be available for streaming.

Schuitmaker and former state legislator Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, lead a group called Michiganders for Civic Resilience, which is part of the new Michigan Civility Coalition. Others include the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the Democracy Defense Project, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation and the Oakland University Center for Civic Engagement.

“It’s a great show of unity for a political environment that desperately needs it,” said Dave Dulio, a political science professor who leads the OU center.

“We have so many individuals, organizations, events and dynamics pulling us apart that just the fact we got two Democrats and two Republicans willing to sit on the same stage and talk about the need for civility — the need to trust in institutions — is, I think, in and of itself important.”

While plans for the forum have been in the making since the fall of 2025, the event comes amid national protests over a federal deportation campaign that has sparked intense debate over the presence and conduct of immigration authorities.

Organizers have billed the event as a “defining moment for civility.”

“We need to be working together to bring civility back to the public square,” said Warren, the former lawmaker who now works as a senior advisor for the Michiganders for Civic Resilience alongside Schuitmaker. “This has never been needed as much as it’s needed now, and it’s pretty incredible that this is going to happen. It feels like it’s meeting the moment.”