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More than 100 members of the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ community participated in a stakeholder assessment session with the Constructive Dialogue Institute, designed as part of the development of ¹û¶³´«Ã½’s Center for Civic Dialogue.

Two 90-minute sessions were held; one with students, and one with employees.

In January, ¹û¶³´«Ã½ received $2,295,315 from the United States Department of Education to create the Center for Civic Dialogue, which will serve as both a physical and intellectual headquarters for civil discourse innovation at ¹û¶³´«Ã½.

The grant, which extends through December 2029, funds both the physical establishment of the Center, to be sited in current university facilities, and outreach activities, focused on developing skills enabling people to listen carefully, think critically, and participate constructively in a democratic society.

As part of the grant, the Center for Civic Dialogue is in partnership with the Constructive Dialogue Institute, which is nonprofit and nonpartisan, to implement a campus-wide educational and culture-change initiative grounded in behavioral science including faculty and staff training cohorts, creation of student dialogue fellows, and campus-wide programming.

During the stakeholder assessment sessions, participants were asked to share their experiences and perspectives on ¹û¶³´«Ã½'s culture and dialogue on campus.

“The CDI facilitator here for the sessions was incredibly impressed with the openness and constructive nature of the discussion during the assessment sessions,” Center for Civic Dialogue Executive Team member Gwen Torges said. “The ¹û¶³´«Ã½ participants were honest and very thoughtful in their comments and suggestions, and the information gathered is an incredibly important part of how we move forward, including how we engage more members of the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ community,” she said.

Torges, ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Chief Compliance Officer Elise Glenn, and ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Dean of Students Adam Jones are the executive leadership team for the Center for Civic Dialogue. A Center director will be hired prior to the fall semester.

The Center builds on established initiatives at ¹û¶³´«Ã½, including the Free Speech Project, Difficult Dialogues training, Constitution Day programming, Torges’s Civic Savvy course, and the Crimson Core Civic Readiness competency.