Boise State’s ‘listening revolution’ spreads to Michigan

Clarence Joldersma and others listen during Michigan Listens at Grand Valley State University. Photo by Steve Jessmore

Recently, in a ballroom at Michigan's Grand Valley State University, nine strangers stood before a silent audience and shared their stories.

A longtime auto worker from Detroit. A potato farmer. A city manager. A student from Battle Creek. They spoke freely. The audience sat rapt - no questions, no applause.

This was Michigan Listens, the first expansion of Idaho Listens, a program that began at Boise State with the quiet, yet powerful aim of changing how people talk - and listen - to one another.

The Idaho innovation

Former Boise State President Marlene Tromp founded the Institute for Advancing American Values in 2021. With support from philanthropist Greg Carr, the institute launched Idaho Listens with a simple idea: Speakers from diverse backgrounds share personal stories before audiences who agree to complete silence - no reactions beyond what's come to be known as "reverent listening."

"We did our first Idaho Listens program in 2022," said Andrew Finstuen, the institute's executive director. After numerous successful Idaho events - including Boise State Listens for student speakers - Finstuen and institute leaders began envisioning something bigger. "After the third or fourth Idaho Listens, I started thinking about America Listens," Finstuen said.

A presidential connection

Boise State had an existing connection with Grand Valley State thanks to REP4, a national education alliance focused on student-centered learning. Both universities were founding partners in the six-institution network.

Kyle Kooyers, Kaufman Interfaith Institute, gives welcome remarks during Michigan Listens. Photo by Steve Jessmore

Because of that connection, Kyle Kooyers, director of operations at Grand Valley State University's Kaufman Interfaith Institute, learned about Idaho Listens.

"I thought, 'There's something there,'" Kooyers said. And it fit. "Our program at Kaufman is about sharing stories and human connection. Universities have a responsibility to create spaces for information exchange - presenting values not as politics, but as diverse viewpoints and journeys. We met with Andrew [Finstuen] and were sold from day one."

The listening program dovetailed with an existing initiative at Grand Valley State, the Talking Together series with events that create a culture of open, respectful conversation.

Grand Valley State is "thrilled," Kooyers said, to be the first out-of-state test case for Idaho Listens. "We so appreciate the whole Boise State team. They were a huge resource and a delight to work with."

Jose Lopez, of Flint, speaks during the Michigan Listens. Photo by Steve Jessmore

On the Michigan stage

The selected speakers for Michigan Listens represented the state's diversity, from Detroit to the Upper Peninsula. One speaker, Mona Makki from Dearborn (home to one of the nation's largest Arab American communities) spoke of surviving domestic abuse and of finding herself in places where she could speak truth and be seen, not as a victim, but as a survivor. Makki now leads community outreach and domestic violence prevention programs for a large Arab American nonprofit.

Speaker Sam Simpson, who works in the auto industry, said he has witnessed the rise and fall of Detroit, his hometown. He spoke of the power and pride in family and how becoming a parent drove his desire to work.

"It was gratifying to see our idea play out in another context and see the parallels of people in good faith telling their stories," said Finstuen, who attended Michigan Listens to hear the stories live. As in Idaho, he noted the rarity of people meeting in such a quiet, reflective setting. He found a commonality of themes in both states: faith, family, employment, community ties.

Samantha TwoCrow, of Peshawbestown, speaks during the Michigan Listens. Photo by Steve Jessmore

And as is the case so often at Idaho events, "At points, during Michigan Listens, there wasn't a dry eye in the room," Kooyers said.

Where to next?

The success of Michigan Listens has energized the institute's plans to bring the model to wider audiences. "We want to look for other partners in other states, while continuing programs in Idaho," Finstuen said. "We look to the possibility of an event in Washington D.C., to engage public television to reflect back to America what we've experienced at the local level."

The Boise State team is developing video tutorials and other materials to help communities create their own listening events.

"So much of what has gone awry in national discourse, especially online, is that people don't feel heard," Kooyers said.

Finstuen added that the whole point of Idaho Listens - and any of its satellites - is to cure some of that, to serve as a reminder of human dignity and to create "moments of connection, not contrast."

Watch Michigan Listens

Recordings of the program are available from PBS affiliate WGVU and on YouTube.

Kimberly Eisenga listens during Michigan Listens. Photo by Steve Jessmore

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