Campus Compact is proud to announce a partnership with Up to Us, a leading program from Net Impact, for the 2020-2021 academic year. Up to Us is the only nationwide, campus-based campaign focused on engaging and empowering students to build a sustainable economic and fiscal future. With their support, Campus Compact will offer deliberative dialogue programming for students and faculty this year as part of our Education for Democracy initiative.

In a moment of deep division and diminishing space for informed public discourse, Campus Compact and Up to Us see an urgent need to build the capacity of the rising generation to engage effectively across differences on important questions in pursuit of common ground for action. Guided by a commitment to the development of student voice and agency, we will provide colleges and universities with the training and resources necessary to combat the polarized and divisive culture affecting their campuses and inspire a new way forward.

“Up to Us is excited to partner with Campus Compact to promote deliberative dialogue among college students,” said Christy Stanker, Senior Program Manager at Net Impact. “Up to Us is dedicated to building a sustainable economic future for America’s next generation. We believe that by developing students’ ability to talk through the tough issues, we will be able to build the world we want to see.”

Student programming will focus on training and mobilizing this year’s cohort of Newman Civic Fellows, student civic leaders who are dedicated to making positive change on their campuses and in their communities. With the goal of increasing their capacities to listen respectfully to the ideas of others and engage in both constructive and critical discussion of public questions, Campus Compact will train Fellows in the practice of substantive policy dialogue across difference. Fellows will lead dialogues among their campus peers following discussion guides created by the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI), thereby gaining a deeper understanding of the practice of deliberative dialogue and the specific issue areas covered by the NIFI guides.

Concurrently, Campus Compact will host virtual deliberative dialogue training sessions for faculty members. Trainings will equip participants with the resources and support necessary to incorporate deliberative dialogue grounded in NIFI guides into their courses, with attention to online offerings.

This joint deliberative dialogue effort reflects the commitment of both Campus Compact and Up to Us to With the People, a multi-organizational initiative fostered by the Kettering Foundation.