Universities Strategize to Scale Constructive Dialogue
As polarization deepens, the ability to engage productively across disagreements, or “constructive dialogue,” has never been more critical. On June 4, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Ithaca Initiative at the University of Delaware hosted delegations from nine schools of public service—members of the Deans Summit and the Constructive Dialogue Scaling Initiative—for a national convening on scaling constructive dialogue programming on campus.
“Higher education must train future leaders in constructive dialogue, a defining competency for a diverse, democratic society,” said Sara Mogulescu, president of the Volcker Alliance. “Schools of public service are training the people who will run agencies, lead communities, and make policy. If they graduate without the ability to work across deep disagreement, we’ve failed them—and the public they’ll serve.”
Timothy Shaffer, chair of the University of Delaware’s SNF Ithaca Initiative, opened with a briefing on the current student-success ecosystem and the institutional levers available for scaling constructive dialogue. “There is a significant retreat from democracy around the world, especially when we look at metrics surrounding freedom of expression,” said Shaffer. “We are all feeling this on campus, and the question becomes how we innovate in response.”
One answer came from Rachel Stephenson, CUNY’s inaugural chief transformation officer, who shared her efforts to bring constructive dialogue programming to 26 CUNY campuses. “This reaches beyond the classroom; it's also about the conference rooms and dining halls,” said Stephenson. “Constructive dialogue programming is not an additional burden when balancing university initiatives—it makes other initiatives more effective.”
Delegates discussed everything from faculty buy-in to combating survey fatigue among students. The day closed with breakout sessions in which delegates built scaling plans tailored to their institutions and shared them with the cohort.
Learn more about the Constructive Dialogue Scaling Initiative here.
