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Bruce, a student at Oregon State, joined our Deep Dive on Free Speech & Hate Speech unsure of how it would go. Many students who participate in our Deep Dive and Unify Challenge programs are nervous beforehand. Who would they be paired with? Would their partner attack them or their views? What if they didn’t know enough about politics to hold their own?
Like almost every student who steps into these conversations, Bruce experienced something entirely different from what he’d imagined.
He and his partner talked. They listened. They made each other think. Bruce left with a deeper confidence in his ability to have a real conversation with another human being, even one who doesn’t share his views.

A student arrived at the Unify Challenge nervous and over-prepared — and left with something she never expected: genuine connection.
Agreement was never the goal. Here's what 3,600 hours of student dialogue across 44 campuses taught us about real conversation.
Democracy, reimagined. 65 random Akronites are solving housing together... no fighting, just shared goals. This is deliberative democracy.