Curious disagreement

A new partnership aims to equip University of Delaware students with the skills to engage across differences.

UD's Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) has partnered with the Viewpoints Project to offer a year-long fellowship that explores civil discourse through a lens of open inquiry.

UD joins a small cohort of colleges and universities in the program - including Dartmouth College, Carnegie Mellon University, Brigham Young University, University of St. Thomas and Elon University - which will bring together campus club leaders to explore conflict with curiosity.

Up to 10 undergraduate students from UD will be selected to participate in this program, which includes modules on constructive disagreement, fostering emotional resilience, tools for community building, narrative storytelling and more. Under the mentorship of trained peers, fellows will create and implement programming on campus.

Michael Vaughan, UD's chief community engagement officer, said that the fellowship reinforces the University's designation as a Community Engaged University, a classification that was reaffirmed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in January.

"This is just one piece of the work being done across campus to foster dialogue and encourage students to engage across perspectives," Vaughan said. "Specifically, this fellowship aims to reach students who might not otherwise participate in civic engagement programs."

CEI is leading the effort to identify motivated students to join the cohort. Students who are leaders in their RSO, fraternity, sorority or any other campus club, and who are interested in this unique opportunity, can contact CEI at [email protected] by March 13, 2026.