Last month, The Chronicle of Higher Education featured the Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) in an in-depth profile, highlighting CDI’s rapid expansion and growing impact on college campuses across the United States. The article traces how CDI’s evidence-based dialogue programs are helping higher education institutions address polarization, foster open inquiry, and build more resilient campus communities.

Co-founded in 2017 by New York University social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, and social entrepreneur Caroline Mehl. CDI was created in response to the rising division and distrust threatening to tear America apart.

CDI’s Campus Dialogue Programs Drive Change

For the first six years of its organizational history, CDI focused on providing higher education faculty with evidence-based educational programming to embed in their classrooms, equipping students with the skills to engage in dialogue across lines of difference.

As demand for campus-wide solutions grew, CDI expanded its offerings. In the 2023–2024 academic year, CDI launched a comprehensive suite of programs designed to help colleges and universities drive durable culture change. Today, CDI partners with institutional leaders at every level—from presidents and administrators to faculty and students—helping campuses chart a strategic path for dialogue, open inquiry, and free expression.

The results speak for themselves: in just one year, CDI’s campus partnerships nearly tripled, growing from 35 to more than 100 institutions nationwide. This rapid growth reflects the urgent need for proven dialogue strategies in higher education and the confidence colleges have in CDI’s approach. But the real story lies in who's adopting these programs and why.

CDI Partnerships: Campus Case Studies

In the article, The Chronicle highlighted the diverse range of institutions that have looked to CDI to help them improve discourse on their campuses, ranging from the City University of New York, serving 240,000 students across its 26 campuses, to the intimate liberal arts environment at Franklin & Marshall, to public institutions like James Madison University in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.

Below are brief descriptions of how these institutions have partnered with CDI and some excerpts from The Chronicle about the impact leaders at these institutions have been seeing:

• The City University of New York: In 2025, CDI launched a multi-year, system-wide partnership with CUNY's 26 campuses, and more than 240,000 students. The collaboration included a two-day leadership summit, professional development for faculty, staff, and student leaders, and CDI’s flagship blended learning program, Perspectives, for students throughout the system. In reflecting on the partnership, Rachel Stephenson, Chief Transformation Officer at CUNY shared, “CUNY is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in the country. Members of our community represent all possible perspectives, so many different lived experiences, so many different viewpoints. And this is an initiative that is really helping us to articulate shared goals.”

Watch CUNY’s leaders discuss their partnership with CDI.

• Franklin & Marshall: Since 2024, Franklin & Marshall has partnered with CDI to introduce Perspectives to all incoming students during orientation, as well as to student leaders, residence advisors, staff, and faculty. . Drew Stelljes, Vice President for Student Affairs at Franklin & Marshall shared, “We felt that it worked pretty well in having prevention and education talks around everything from conflict mediation to intercultural conversations, interfaith conversations.”

See Franklin & Marshall’s experience with CDI in this video.

• James Madison University: James Madison University embedded Perspectives in its freshman orientation to give every new student a strong foundation in dialogue, free speech, and civic engagement. Kara Dillard, Executive Director of JMU’s Madison Center for Civic Engagement, said: “We thought that that was deeply important [t]hat the first touch point that they had with the university is in training in free speech, freedom of expression, and how they can relate to those concepts.”

CDI is entering its third year of partnership with JMU, as part of its broader partnership with The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Why Dialogue Programs Matter for Colleges

As The Chronicle feature makes clear, the need for campus-wide dialogue programs has never been greater. Higher education leaders recognize that scalable, evidence-based approaches to dialogue and open inquiry are essential for fostering student belonging, supporting free expression, and building resilient campus communities.

CDI is proud to partner with colleges and universities across the country, offering proven programs and expertise to drive sustainable culture change. As more campuses invest in dialogue initiatives, CDI remains at the forefront—helping higher education lead with confidence in today’s complex climate.

Ready to bring evidence-based dialogue programs to your campus? Contact CDI to learn how we can support your institution’s culture change goals.