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Grantee
Institute for Multipartisan Education – The Viewpoints Project
Area
Private Higher Education
Amount
$209237
Date Approved
5/17/2026
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University campuses are challenged by students’ reluctance and lack of skill in engaging viewpoint diversity. Existing dialogue programs struggle to engage students not already passionate about civil discourse. In response, The Viewpoints Fellowship (TVF) employs a student-led, train-the-trainer approach to equip college club leaders to bring civil discourse skills to peers who wouldn’t typically seek them out. The fellowship operates in two stages: 1) In the fall, TVF teaches established leaders of student communities to use curious disagreement to pursue their organization’s goals. By embedding these skills in contexts students care about, TVF provides discourse training to entire clubs without first requiring buy-in on its broader value. 2) In the spring, each campus cohort creates a campus-wide capstone project to introduce curious disagreement to a broader audience. For sustainability, TVF partners with campus staff who serve as liaisons and on-the-ground support, fostering institutional memory. By enabling student-led, community-based change, the expectation is that students of all kinds approach difference with greater curiosity—shifting culture within organizations and across campus. After encouraging pilots at Dartmouth and Elon, TVF will expand this program.