As 2025 draws to a close, we find ourselves pausing and looking back on a transformational year for the Constructive Dialogue Institute. The momentum we built in 2024 accelerated dramatically, with landmark partnerships, major new initiatives, and unprecedented investment in our mission. Together with our partners, funders, and supporters, we've taken significant strides toward helping colleges and universities build campus cultures rooted in inquiry, dialogue, and free expression — and equipping students with the essential skills of democratic citizenship.

Highlights of 2025

1. Record-Breaking Growth

This year, CDI expanded its reach significantly, working with institutions and individuals across the country to build stronger campus cultures. CDI’s growth achieved new records across partnerships, learners, and program participants to date, including:

• 150+ active campus partnerships
• 190,000+ Perspectives learners
• 1,600+ live programming participants
• 3,600+ webinar attendees
• 5,300+ resource and white paper downloads

2. Major Partnerships and System-Wide Initiatives

2025 saw the launch of unprecedented system-wide partnerships demonstrating that dialogue can scale even within the largest and most complex university systems:

CUNY Partnership Launch: In February, we officially launched our multi-year partnership with the City University of New York to drive systemic culture change across all 26 CUNY campuses serving nearly 240,000 students. This initiative includes leadership training for all campus presidents and cabinets, dialogue facilitation certification for staff, and Perspectives implementation for students, faculty, and staff across the system.

Council of Independent Colleges Partnership: In July, we launched a new partnership with CIC and a cohort of eight independent liberal arts colleges to implement our research-based dialogue programs and support a yearlong professional learning community.

CDI Leadership Institute Convenes Elite Universities: In October, we convened presidents and senior leaders from nine of America's leading universities—Brown, Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, MIT, NYU, Tufts, Vanderbilt, and Yale—for our Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C. These institutions are now collaborating to develop innovative models for strengthening constructive dialogue, open inquiry, and free expression in higher education.

Continued Virginia Partnership: Building on our multi-year collaboration with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), we continued supporting dialogue initiatives across Virginia's public colleges and universities.

3. New Programs and Initiatives

In response to growing demand for student-led dialogue, CDI introduced new offerings in 2025:

Student Dialogue Facilitation Training: In May, we launched student versions of our Foundations in Constructive Dialogue and CDI Certified Dialogue Facilitator Training programs, enabling student leaders in residence life, student government, and campus organizations to facilitate dialogue among their peers.

Expanded Leadership Institute: We announced plans to convene a parallel cohort of leading public flagship universities in 2026, growing our network of institutions committed to strengthening higher education's civic mission.

Volcker Alliance Collaboration: We continued our partnership with the Volcker Alliance, working with 14 schools of public service to embed dialogue curriculum in public administration programs.

4. Thought Leadership and Research

CDI continued contributing critical insights into dialogue and discourse in higher education:

Building Cultures of Constructive Dialogue: A Blueprint for Campus Leaders (April 2025): Drawing from research with over 100 colleges and interviews with 20 campus leaders, this report provides a roadmap for transforming campus culture through presidential leadership, strategic stakeholder buy-in, and sustainable change strategies.

Moral Reframing Accuracy Is Enhanced Through an Educational Intervention (August 2025): This study examines how programs such as Perspectives can promote accuracy in moral messaging, with implications for bridging ethical divides in schools.

Colleges and Universities as Public Forums: A Playbook for Designing Impactful Campus Speaker Events (October 2025): A blueprint for campus leaders on transforming speaker events into powerful opportunities for civic learning and community resilience.

Engaging Students Across Difference: A Practical Guide to Designing Dialogues (November 2025): A guide for designing dialogue experiences for students that are both engaging and psychologically safe.

Five Pillars Framework: Our Five Pillars for Campus Culture Change continued guiding institutional transformation efforts nationwide.

5. Historic Investment in Our Mission

In November, we announced a landmark $4.5 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation, the Foundation's third major investment in CDI, bringing their total support to $9.5 million over nine years. This grant will fuel our three-year effort to reach 1.75 million college students with the mindset and skills to communicate and collaborate across differences.

This grant is part of our broader $20 million, three-year capital campaign to transform U.S. higher education. We're grateful to the foundations, donors, and partners whose support is making this ambitious vision possible.

6. What Our Community Is Saying

The feedback from our partners reinforces the impact of this work:

"Dartmouth is committed to helping our students learn to engage in dialogue across difference—an essential skill for training future leaders. Partners like the Constructive Dialogue Institute facilitate that work." — Sian Leah Beilock, President of Dartmouth

"Through this partnership with CDI, we're building a culture of engagement and trust that will prepare our students to work across differences in all domains of their lives." — Rachel Stephenson, Chief Transformation Officer at CUNY

"Students want to be change makers, they want to be advocates, but they don't necessarily have the tools." — M. Cristina Alcalde, VP for Transformational and Inclusive Excellence at Miami University

Looking Forward to 2026

As we step into the new year, CDI is positioned for our most impactful chapter yet:

1. Scaling Our Reach

With the support of the John Templeton Foundation and other partners, we're working toward our goal of reaching 1.75 million college students over the next three years. We'll continue expanding partnerships with state systems of higher education while deepening our work with existing partners.

2. Deepening Impact at Partner Institutions

As our partnerships mature, we're focused on helping institutions embed dialogue practices into their institutional DNA, from orientation to graduation, across leadership, curriculum, and student life.

3. Growing the Leadership Institute

In 2026, we'll convene a new cohort of leading public flagship universities, expanding our network of institutions committed to modeling healthy civic life and intellectual exchange.

4. Advancing Research

We'll continue conducting rigorous research to evaluate program effectiveness, guide continuous improvement, and contribute new insights to the field.

Thank You for Being Part of the Journey

None of this would be possible without the dedication of our partners, participants, funders, and team. Together, we're building a future in which higher education models the kind of inquiry, dialogue, and collaboration our democracy needs.

At a time when polarization threatens both democracy and higher education, the work has never been more important—or more hopeful. We're energized by what's ahead.

Here's to a 2026 filled with constructive dialogue and meaningful progress.

Learn more about CDI’s research-backed approach to dialogue and culture change at constructivedialogue.org.