Higher Ed: From Polarization to Possibility
Common Ground USA believes that campuses can model our nation’s highest ideals: coming together across differences to serve the common good.
Our Programs
Higher education is facing unprecedented tumult. Existing divisions are cracking open and spilling out onto college campuses in the midst of protest and free speech tensions, targeted hate against religious and ethnic minorities, and a volatile political context.
Common Ground USA believes that crisis can be an opportunity: an inflection point to remember who we are and choose who we want to be. Our higher education programs equip administrators, faculty, and students to navigate turbulence and transform campuses from antagonism to pluralism.
Common Ground Journalism
Student journalists hold the power to shape how stories are told on campus and beyond. Yet their perspectives are too often buried under an avalanche of polarization, co-opted by national media outlets, or silenced by fear or censorship. In recognition of these strengths and challenges, Common Ground USA has launched Common Ground Journalism, in partnership with The Fulcrum, to support students reporting in contentious times.
Each Common Ground Journalism cohort convenes 10–20 student journalists from around the country to explore strategies and challenges to reporting on campus conflicts. We’ll cover lessons to center student stories and reflect the on-campus complexity that undermines “us vs. them” narratives that can unproductively pit students against students, students against administrators, and feed national division. Speakers include veteran journalists from conflict zones around the world and American journalists at the forefront of reporting for depolarization.
Selected Common Ground Journalists are eligible to receive:
6 sessions with national and international journalists and peacebuilders
$200 stipend for your participation
Common Ground Journalism Certificate
All-expenses-paid trip to a Fall 2025 conference
Opportunity to publish your work in The Fulcrum, a bridge-building publication with hundreds of thousands of readers each week, and/or the Latino News Network
100% of students in the first Common Ground Journalism cohort would definitely or probably recommend the program to a friend or colleague.
86.7% of students in the first cohort agree or strongly agree that Common Ground Journalism made them feel more comfortable reporting on minority perspectives and humanizing opposing political opinions.
Administrators’ Boot Camp
Administrators are facing intense and competing pressures on their mission to equip the next generation for a complex and diverse world. The Administrator's Boot Camp brings together higher education leaders from around the country to learn from conflict experts and one another as they lead through these challenges. Together, administrator cohorts explore and implement common ground strategies to navigate current tensions and build their campus' resilience to weather future crises.
Participants will learn and practice how to:
Map conflict dynamics and stakeholders on campus, using tools from some of the world’s top conflict transformation experts
Build a resilience team of influencers who can maintain resilience across campus in a moment of anxiety and growing external pressures
Leverage crises as opportunities for students and faculty to practically exercise their civic muscles on issues that impact them directly
Common Ground USA is proud to present the Administrator's Boot Camp at no cost to participants.
“The Administrator’s Boot Camp was a critically useful resource to think carefully about managing engagements across our campus community at a time of heightened political divisions. From the tremendous experience of the facilitators to the day-to-day challenges facing peers at other schools, joining the Boot Camp every week helped me anticipate actions we would have to take, forecast challenges, and find confidence in the knowledge that we were not alone. The ability to learn from others navigating the same challenges was a huge help and the materials shared by the facilitators provided meaningful assistance to the work I do.”
Jim Ludes, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Salve Regina University
The Common Ground USA team has assessed and highly recommends the following practical resources:
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For years before October 7, there had already been a significant rise in antisemitic, Islamophobic, racist and other hate-based rhetoric and actions on college campuses. The Israel-Gaza war has further fueled this already-troubling trend. In order to support college administrators, faculty, students and families to prevent or respond to such developments, American University’s Polarization & Extremism Research and Innovation Lab has developed a suite of practical toolkits: BRICK Toolkit
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To address this challenge and help universities provide the best educational experience for students navigating heated debates, multiple tools and programs are available:
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Some universities have integrated dialogue modules and facilitation training programs into classrooms, extra-curricular programs and even as part of mandatory orientation programs. Drawing from over two decades of experience harnessing the power of intergroup dialogue, Soliya designs and implements such programs to advance civil dialogue practices, free speech and critical inquiry among college youth.
Soliya is a part of the Search for Common Ground family of organizations. The organization has worked with over 280 colleges and universities facilitating transformative dialogue for students. For the past twenty years, Soliya has been a globally recognized pioneer in virtual exchange, leveraging technology to create dialogue across geographical divides.
Tools for classroom discussion: Many universities have developed excellent tools and guides for faculty members to create safe space for constructive dialogue about contentious topics, including: Guidelines for discussing difficult or high risk topics and strategies for managing hot moments in the classroom.
Find out more about how Soliya can help your university by clicking here.