According to a More in Common survey, 81 percent of college students say they are willing to listen to political views very different from their own, yet only 6 percent say they trust their institution a great deal to help them do that well. That gap was the starting point for CDI’s October 1 webinar, Midterms 2026: Fostering Civic Engagement in a Polarized Climate.

The panel featured Michelle N. Deutchman, Executive Director, University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement; Colleen Sonnentag, Assistant Vice President & Dean of Students, University of Northern Colorado; and Leela Strong, Newhouse Director, Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), at Tufts University. With the 2026 election around the corner, the conversation focused not only on what campuses should be doing now but also on the work they must do between elections.Key takeaways:

• Civic engagement is bigger than the ballot. Voting is one part of a broader practice that also includes volunteering, attending a city council meeting, and following local news. “If you’re going to a homeless shelter and giving out sandwiches, that’s being civically engaged,” Deutchman said. Few students have been told these activities count.
  
  

• Students need a civic home. Strong described a place on campus where students have a voice, can ask questions, and can make mistakes. “A civic home doesn’t have to be politically affiliated,” she said. “It can be a religious organization, it can be a sports group, it can be the meetup group, the walking group.”
  
  

• Every student can have a role. At Northern Colorado, students who cannot vote, including international students and those not yet 18, staff information tables and walk with friends to the polls. “Not everyone can do everything, but everyone can do something,” Sonnentag said.
  
  

• The work has to outlast the election cycle. Strong recommended standing working groups of senior leaders, faculty, staff, and students, so planning carries from one election to the next. “It’s got to happen all the time,” she said, “including between and beyond election cycles.”
  
  

• Campuses already have the tools. Faculty in any discipline can ask students which public question matters most to them and what they would do about it. Student government can reach peers in ways administrators cannot. Deutchman described civic engagement as a muscle that weakens without regular use.

To learn more, watch the full webinar.

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