Civic Leadership Academy bridges perspectives

"We live in a world that's more politically divided than ever, and part of the problem is that people don't know how to talk and listen to one another.” Recent news and social media coverage of global and national affairs often reflects that observation by Jes Davis, associate director of VT Engage, Virginia Tech's center for service learning, leadership education, and civic engagement.

The center invites students from all years and majors to join its Civic Leadership Academy, open to enrollment through Feb. 19, to become more informed and active leaders with skills in exchanging views across differing perspectives. Academy sessions will be twice a month from 6-8 p.m. at the VT Engage house at 417 Clay St. in Blacksburg.

Participants will improve their own political dialogue and advocacy skills through interactive sessions, leading to the opportunity to facilitate larger campus conversations on topics important to them with the academy’s support.

Starting with conversation, growing to advocacy

Meghan Kuhn, director of VT Engage, and Davis designed and led the pilot year of the program in 2023 and gathered feedback from participants at its conclusion. “We used social topics in deliberative dialogues not as the focus but as a way to develop the skills of dialogue,” said Kuhn. “Students built trust and empathy within their varying perspectives. By the end of the semester, they wanted to get deeper into some topics and transfer those skills into their own student organizations and classrooms.”

To make that happen, VT Engage deepened its commitment to the Civic Leadership Academy (CLA) this academic year by designating a full-time civic engagement coordinator, Billy McKeon.  

McKeon and VT Engage Assistant Director for Service Learning Jessica McMillan built on the program’s existing strengths in cultivating connection, openness, and dialogue to encourage this year’s cohort to apply leadership skills they learn toward bringing more students into civil conversation.

"This year’s program will have two phases,” said McKeon. “The first half will be dialogue-centered – conversations to help students to find space in the middle of issues that news platforms have presented as bipolar. That takes really intentional question-making.

“The second half will turn more toward outward-facing programming. Every student in the program can help design and lead a deliberate sociopolitical conversation with a group of students in the fall.”

"Being able to have dialogue across difference is such an important piece to creating social change in our everyday lives,” said Davis. “It's a foundation of VT Engage as well.”

Supporting the university’s Principles of Community and Student Affairs’ Aspirations for Student Learning, the academy extends wider campus initiatives to help students explore their civic identities.

Chief Officer of Inclusion & Belonging Anthony Scott brought training from the Constructive Dialogue Institute to campus that McKeon said directly shapes the academy. Inclusion & Belonging also currently sponsors the Perspectives program for residential students to foster empathy in difficult conversations.

Tim Bryan, who with his wife, Nan Bryan, donated to Student Affairs to help the academy launch, said he sees those foundations underpinning roles beyond the university. “The skills that come with understanding and compromise – that make people good fathers, mothers, CEOs, supervisors, classmates, and friends – are the skills that Virginia Tech students should demand in their political and elected leaders," he said.

“Each person, cocooned in their media echo chamber, is unable to realize that every person comes to an issue from a different path. Civic leadership doesn't mean you have to agree on an issue, only that you recognize the paths.”

Campus collaborations bridge perspectives

To welcome a diverse collection of students, VT Engage will host each academy meeting with a meal, accompanied by conversation and a learning component.  

“Sometimes the learning component will look like bringing in an expert to discuss a very specific topic,” McKeon said. “Sometimes VT Engage staff will give context.

“This isn't a lecture where students need to come and take notes,” said McKeon. “This is more of a community conversation with an educational lens to help students develop interpersonal skills they can carry with them.”

"The experience really reinforced the importance of curiosity about other people – seeing beyond initial reactions to understand commonalities before fixating on differences," said Gia Ha, an urban affairs and regional planning master's student in public and international affairs while at the academy.

VT Engage also will enrich and broaden the academy’s discussions by hosting civic education events accessible to students in or outside the Civic Leadership Academy (CLA). Those events will feature experts to offer nuance on issues that may get only superficial media coverage.  

“We want to break down the big idea of civic engagement into more approachable pieces and to let students know that it's OK to access these things and to not do it perfectly,” said McKeon, “like making a proposal to town halls or contacting their legislators.”

Shreya Malhotra, who attended the academy while an engineering master’s student in computer science and applications, said the experience helped her grow into a more confident advocate.

“The ability to be in an unfamiliar community and to speak and be heard – that’s what I’ll away from CLA,” said Malhotra. “Even if I'm shy about saying something, if I think it can help somebody, I will.”