How the Unify Challenge College Bowl Helped UND Students Tackle Political Divides

Campus tension is on the rise

Our American democracy is in crisis, and colleges are feeling the effects. According to a 2022 poll by Generation Lab, almost half of college sophomores wouldn't room with someone who supported the opposing candidate in the 2020 election, and the Pew Research Center continues to show a rapid increase in Americans viewing members of the other party as “immoral, dishonest, and closed-minded.”

Yikes! It’s no wonder many college students are reluctant to weigh in on political topics for fear of alienation from their peers and that professors struggle to encourage students to participate in debates over America’s most prominent issues. After all, how can we teach civic skills when civil conversations seem nearly impossible?

Meet the Unify Challenge College Bowl

With rising polarization across our country and college communities, the nonpartisan nonprofit Unify America partnered with University of North Dakota leaders and faculty from 41 other universities nationwide to offer the 4th biannual Unify Challenge College Bowl in February and March 2023.

The concept of the College Bowl is simple; College students who have never met before and could have different political leanings or backgrounds are matched up for a guided one-on-one video chat about the most important goals for our country. And from our first College Bowl, piloted in October 2021, it’s been a hit with professors and students alike! Today, we’ve partnered with 79 universities, including a recent and impactful partnership with the University of North Dakota.

To participate in the College Bowl, students completed a short sign-up form and chose one of the 12 available dates for the Unify Challenge. On the day of the event, they logged in and met their partner from different ideological or geographic backgrounds. Together, the pair went through a guided survey of 17 goals for America, covering topics from free speech and criminal justice to immigration and education. Students praised the experience, surprised to find more agreement across subjects than expected, resulting in more hope for the future of our democracy.

What made UND unique?

At UND, the College Bowl found champions in the board of trustees, Vice Provost for Strategic Programming & Special Initiatives Jeff Holm, and Educational Opportunities Casey Hoffman Officer. What sets UND apart from other participating schools is how Holm and Hoffman incentivized professor participation. By offering a stipend of $250 through the Teaching Transformation and Development Academy at UND, faculty members who incorporated the Unify Challenge College Bowl into their curriculum could receive compensation for their efforts. 

This approach proved successful, with 15 University of North Dakota professors utilizing the program in their courses and 194 students being matched with partners from different perspectives. That's almost 12% of the total number of this Bowl’s participants!

Who Participated?

UND students contributed a broad spectrum of ideologies:

• 65 Conservative
• 59 Moderates
• 61 Liberals
• 8 Libertarians
• 1 Anarchist 

It's also worth noting that participating professors weren't just political science educators. They represented a wide variety of fields and disciplines, including:

• Social Work
• Criminal Justice
• History
• Gender Studies
• Nutrition
• Political Science
• Education
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Biomedical Sciences
• Space Studies
• Aviation