Agreement isn’t the Goal

Imagine spending a little over an hour talking to a stranger about the biggest issues facing this country. Really working through how you feel, without worrying about what the other person thinks or whether your views might be taken out of context.

That's what thousands of college students across the country just did in March.

During the 2026 Spring Unify Challenge, students from 44 colleges, from Alaska to the heart of New York City, spent a combined 3,600 hours working through big, thorny issues together (think: abortion, guns, immigration, speech on campus). Pairs of strangers who had never met debated approaches, found common ground, and even built friendships, all in an average of 63 minutes.

When we started the Civic Gym, our goal was to show college students from different backgrounds, beliefs, campuses, and political ideologies that they could have civil conversations – and that maybe we aren't as different as some would have us believe. We found that to be true. So much so that this season, we introduced something new to our discussion guide: points of tension.

The goal? Push students beyond surface-level agreement.

"After your partner answers, paraphrase what they said in your own words. Then ask: Did I get that right?"

"Where are you curious to learn more about your partner's thinking?"

"Thinking about your answers to the previous question, do you and your partner agree 100% about who should be responsible? If you agree on everything, discuss why others may disagree with you. What good reasons might they have for feeling differently?"

Agreement isn’t, and never has been, the goal of the Civic Gym. The goal is a space to truly practice deliberation across differences. We found that on some topics, many students were stopping at surface-level agreement, but beliefs run deeper than that. Students need practice asking questions about the root of those beliefs, seeing issues from a different perspective, and actively listening to their partner’s answers. So we added guidance on when and how to do that – and 48% of students found that these small tweaks helped their conversations go meaningfully deeper.

It all adds up to one thing: there are now more than 40,000 students since we began the Unify Challenge who are more confident and capable of communicating with people different from themselves — skills that will serve them in their future classes, careers, and relationships. 

And as these young people become active citizens, the country gains something it badly needs: Americans who know how to work, learn, and lead shoulder to shoulder with fellow citizens who see the world differently.

We're excited for the next wave of students to go even further with the Deep Dive, starting April 8th.