Setting the Standard

Setting the Standard

Ohio Wesleyan University Becomes One of the Nation's First Colleges to Prepare All Students, Employees to Navigate Difficult Conversations

DELAWARE, Ohio- When Ohio Wesleyan University saw an opportunity to help the campus navigate potentially divisive conversations more effectively, it established a bold partnership with the Constructive Dialogue Institute to provide CDI's evidence-based civil discourse training to all OWU students, faculty, and staff.

Matt vandenBerg

"Ohio Wesleyan is CDI's most comprehensive liberal arts partner, creating a collaboration that is groundbreaking in higher education," said OWU President Matt vandenBerg, Ed.D. "Our entire campus is all-in on this effort. The current state of our world required bold action, and we took it. We look forward to working with the Constructive Dialogue Institute to spearhead meaningful change in civil discourse."

Everyone at Ohio Wesleyan who successfully completes CDI's Perspectives online learning program will earn a certificate from the institute acknowledging their training. Ohio Wesleyan is CDI's first partner to utilize the certificate, created to enable students to share their augmented skill set, particularly with future employers.

"With a contentious election, wars around the globe, and division across our country," said OWU Provost Karlyn Crowley, Ph.D., "we must use the year ahead as a unique teaching moment and work as a campus to learn how to listen, to understand, and to share in constructive dialogue. Ohio Wesleyan will be a national model for how we preserve democracy."

In addition to Perspectives training, Ohio Wesleyan will invite faculty and staff to complete advanced online and in-person training to help them facilitate and model constructive dialogue, especially during critical incidents. Lastly, Ohio Wesleyan will participate in CDI's inaugural Leadership Institute this fall, where CDI will provide university leaders with a roadmap for success, offering best practices and strategies to transform conflicts into opportunities to strengthen and unify the campus community.

"Universities today are navigating a highly polarized political landscape, which presents unique challenges in managing campus conflicts," said Caroline Mehl, CDI's co-founder and executive director. "We're eager to partner with OWU on this holistic initiative that involves stakeholders at every level. Cultivating civic skills across higher education campuses will aid our public sphere as a whole."

Ohio Wesleyan and the Constructive Dialogue Institute hope this partnership inspires other institutions to adopt similar comprehensive approaches to prepare their campuses to communicate across differences and to foster a generation of students well-prepared to navigate and contribute to a diverse and democratic society.

vandenBerg said the CDI collaboration enhances Ohio Wesleyan's legacy of preparing students to become engaged citizens working toward the common good.

"Our Mock Presidential Nominating Convention, our Sagan National Colloquium, and our Arneson Institute for Practical Politics and Public Affairs are just three of the OWU institutions that for decades have been preparing our students to lead," vandenBerg said. "Our work with CDI helps Ohio Wesleyan to expand this work and to ensure that our students truly become leaders in democracy."

About the Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI)

Co-founded in 2017 by psychologist Jonathan Haidt and Caroline Mehl, the Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) is a nonprofit organization that builds educational tools to equip Americans with the skills to communicate and collaborate across differences. To accomplish this goal, CDI translates the latest behavioral science research into educational resources that are evidence-based, practical, and scalable for institutions, educators, students, and communities.

About Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU)

Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation's premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and competes in 24 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through its signature experience, the OWU Connection, Ohio Wesleyan teaches students to understand issues from multiple academic perspectives, volunteer in service to others, build a diverse and global perspective, and translate classroom knowledge into real-world experience through internships, research, and other hands-on learning. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book "Colleges That Change Lives" and included on the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review "Best Colleges" lists. Connect with OWU expert interview sources at owu.edu/experts or learn more at owu.edu.

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