Our Dialogue Across Difference (DxD) team commends Student Life’s collective reflection on the role of dialogue in their recent Staff Editorial, “Embrace and encourage political discourse.” The editorial team did an excellent job identifying the need to approach conversations with respect and civility in this time of political division. Universities provide essential opportunities to develop the skills of active listening, empathy, and perspective-taking needed for a healthy democracy.

Dialogue is hard work. It takes practice, and it also takes courage. In a time when courage can feel like a limited resource, it is heartening to see the editorial board leaning into it. We appreciate how Student Life models engaging across differences, showing that dialogue is not a passive act, but an intentional practice.

Dialogue, like free speech, is not free; it requires responsibility. It asks each of us to make choices about how we show up for one another. It requires grace for others and for ourselves as we navigate uncomfortable or challenging conversations. Dialogue demands that we see the humanity in each other and resist the pull of dehumanizing language. These commitments form the foundation of a dialogue culture.

Dialogue Across Difference offers programs, workshops, and courses to help students better understand each other and approach differences as learning opportunities. Through structured dialogue, students learn the skills of active listening, perspective-taking, empathy, and collaboration. At DxD, we understand that the most important opinions to engage with are often the ones that challenge us, expand our thinking, or stretch our empathy. It is much easier to take pathways of polarization. The conversations that lead to growth and understanding require effort, humility, and practice.

As the Editorial Board noted, difficult dialogues are not easy, but they become easier through sustained practice. Dialogue is both a tool and a lived practice. Our democracy is delicate and powerful at the same time, and dialogue helps us tend to that balance with care.

The DxD team is here to support all members of our WashU community, across diverse political perspectives. We work to cultivate a culture of dialogue, one that values free speech, responsibility, grace, and courage. Our goal is to create space for dialogue and an environment of mutual respect. Our one-credit, eight-week courses are small, seminar-style classes that are co-facilitated by trained DxD instructors.

Community agreements are co-created in each course and serve as guidelines for in-class dialogue. Commonly used community agreements include: “keep an open mind,” “actively listen to learn and not respond or interrupt,” and “assume the intent and desire to learn from others.” We focus on building relationships and connections in the course, which are essential for effective dialogue. Students participate in small group activities and issue-focused dialogue. 

One program, “Third Friday Dialogues,” brings people together to discuss current issues over a meal.

The Student Life editorial provides hope, showing what is possible when people choose dialogue over division. Know that there is hope in our gathering across differences. There is hope in our collective practice of dialogue.

Signed,

Dr. Jennifer Pacheco, Director, Dialogue Across Difference

Mari Torres, Training and Curriculum Specialist, Dialogue Across Difference