A new report from the Constructive Dialogue Institute offers actionable strategies for university leaders to navigate campus unrest, drawn from lessons learned during the 2024 student protests.
NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- How higher education leaders respond to campus unrest this fall will shape public opinion, legislative oversight, and campus climate for millions of college students. The campus protests of spring 2024 intensified an already heated debate over free speech and safety. How can higher education leaders give voice to student concerns while maintaining a positive educational environment?
The Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) has announced the release of a free report on student activism called "Navigating Campus Protests: University Leadership in the Era of Polarized Activism." Written for the higher education leader, the report synthesizes the lessons learned from the 2024 protests into actionable strategies for navigating forthcoming campus unrest.
"Higher education, and our society as a whole, is at an inflection point," says Mylien Duong, CDI's Senior Director of Research and Innovation. "There's no playbook for navigating the political polarization that we're seeing right now. That's what this report tries to do—to share the hard-learned lessons from last year so that the whole of higher education can benefit."
The report begins with a historical perspective on student activism, and illustrates how college students have been at the forefront of nearly every social movement in America. It then uses large-scale quantitative data to identify the type of school that is prone to protest activity, and the type of student is likely to be a protestor. It delves deeply into the stories of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students, painting a psychological portrait that explains why the protests of the previous academic year got so heated.
The report ends with five critical elements for navigating unrest on campus: These include:
- Trust, both relational and institutional.
- A culture that promotes critical thinking and compassion.
- A set of policies that are clear, comprehensive, and consistently enforced.
- An effective event response team, with diverse membership, a foundation of trust, and clear escalation procedures.
- A compassionate approach to interfacing with student activists.
"With this year being a presidential election, and the war in Gaza continuing, there's every reason to expect that protests will continue, if not escalate" said Caroline Mehl, CDI's Executive Director. "This report will help higher education leaders prepare for that."
About the Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI)
Co-founded in 2017 by psychologist Jonathan Haidt and Caroline Mehl, the Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) is a non-profit 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.
Media Contact
Mylien Duong, Constructive Dialogue Institute, 1 (714) 721-7865, [email protected] , constructivedialogue.org
SOURCE Constructive Dialogue Institute
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