Federal education grants may be less common these days, but Davidson College just received $4 million to create a “Deliberative Citizenship Network,” with a goal of promoting civil discourse on controversial topics.
The four-year award is directed to Davidson’s Institute for Public Good and marks the largest competitive government grant in the college’s history, officials said. The sponsor is the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. The Trump administration is redirecting $169 million from the fund that had been used to promote college student success to other priorities, including civil discourse, the use of artificial intelligence, accreditation and short-term training programs, according to a Forbes story.
Davidson wants to use the money to help students and educators at 100 campuses nationally improve their ability to “dig out accurate and reliable information, convene difficult conversations on controversial topics and figure out a path forward,” according to a release.
“Davidson’s Institute for Public Good will serve as a national hub that connects research, teaching and public engagement around respectful inclusion across political viewpoints—no matter how unpopular on campus — as well as participating in community efforts to examine, talk through and solve big problems,” said Christopher Marsicano, who is executive director of Davidson’s institute. It was formed last year.
Davidson also runs a Deliberative Citizenship Initiative, which organizes campus forums on divisive issues and hosts workshops for faculty from other schools. Graham Bullock, founding director of the initiative, will lead the new network.
Formed by Presbyterians in 1837, Davidson is a highly selective liberal arts college with about 2,000 undergraduate students. The north Mecklenburg County college has an endowment of more than $1.5 billion.
For 40 years, sharing the stories of North Carolina's dynamic business community.