Building Civic Muscles With Record-Breaking Intercollegiate Civic Dialogue

Against the backdrop of rising polarization and a divisive presidential election, it’s not just possible — it’s effective — to communicate across differences.

CHICAGO, Ill. (Nov. 14, 2024) — The nonpartisan nonprofit Unify America successfully completed another chart-topping Unify Challenge College Bowl and launched its first-ever Deep Dive event this fall. Part of the organization’s Civic Gym virtual platform, these innovative nationwide programs are designed to bring together college students from different backgrounds for one-on-one conversations about pressing national issues. The impactful experiences provide an opportunity to practice communicating across differences and to build critical civic muscles in a real-world context.

“Almost all of my students were influenced or moved or inspired in some way, and these types of activities will always be beneficial. Most students realize how alike they are with others, despite political leanings, and that's a real eye-opening thing for them,” said Emily Lane, PhD, MFA, adjunct instructor at the University of Central Arkansas. “It's great to see, and all it takes is one nicely structured conversation. I will continue to require students to participate.” 

Grounded in research and built for scale, each multi-week, intercollegiate virtual Civic Gym event features guided video conversions between pairs of students from different institutions, backgrounds, beliefs and geographic locations—from Alaska to Illinois to Florida. These structured discussions help participants hone critical thinking, empathy and collaborative problem-solving skills, fueled by active listening and perspective sharing.