National Partnerships

NC Campus Engagement is a member of the Braver Network, a network of organizations across the political spectrum working together to bridge the partisan divide. NCCE began partnering with Braver Angels in the Summer of 2020 when Dr. Bill Doherty, co-founder of Braver Angels, participated in our Virtual Dialogue Series. He discussed Braver Angels and their Malice Towards None initiative.  In Fall 2020, NCCE joined the Braver Angels Alliance of Central North Carolina (BAACNC). That October, the Alliance and NCCE co-hosted two Depolarizing Within virtual workshops.  The first Depolarizing Within workshop was for faculty and staff only. The second session was for students only. Between the two workshops 44 individuals participated from 13 campuses.

In 2021 we began to co-host trainings with the Alliance in the Braver Discussions model. This dialogue model was created by Dr. Pete Crow, a member of BAACNC, and the Alliance hosts a monthly Braver Discussion. That March we hosted a Braver Discussions Train-the-Trainer session for administrators from five NCCE member campuses.  In October 2022, we trained the inaugural cohort of  NC Student Dialogue Ambassadors in the Braver Discussions model.

In February 2023, we partnered with the BAACNC on the pilot Redesigning Democracy Competition. Alliance members helped facilitate the 3.5 hour Trustworthy Elections Common Ground Workshop and to judge the student team presentations.  

October 2023, we partnered with the Braver Angels Alliance of Central North Carolina to host a Depolarizing Within workshop for 10 Elon University students and faculty.  Elon’s Common Reading for 1st year students during the 2023-24 academic year is  “I Never Thought of it That Way”, by Mónica Guzmán, Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels. That month we also partnered with the  American Council of Trustees and Alumni, College Debates and Discourse Alliance, to host a Braver Angels debate and workshop during our biennial CSNAP Student Conference.

Citizen University (CU) is a non-profit headquartered in Seattle, Washington that equips Americans to be civic culture catalysts. The organization was co-founded by Eric Liu, who is also founding director of the Aspen Institute’s Citizenship & American Identity Program and the author of numerous acclaimed books. Liu was the keynote speaker for the NCCE 2022 (virtual) Presidents Forum. Several years ago CU developed Citizen Redefined a civic and moral formation program for teenagers led by adult mentors. NCCE is the first organization to pilot the curriculum for a higher education context. In March 2023, we hosted the first Citizen Redefined weeklong training for community enagement professionals from 11 of our member campuses. They learned the curriculum in order to implement it on their respective campuses. A second training is scheduled for December 4-9, 2023. In May 2024, NCCE will host the first Citizen Redefined camp for students participating in the newly launched NC Civic Impact Fellowship.