JUNE 6, 2024, NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Heterodox Academy (HxA), a non-partisan, non-profit membership organization committed to improving institutions of higher education by advocating principles of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement announces funding from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations to support campus programming that model constructive dialogue across divergent views to encourage deep investigation, interaction, and engagement.

The Foundations’ support will enable the strengthening of the relationship between HxA’s faculty-led Campus Communities and student-led BridgeUSA chapters on campuses across the country. The events will be led and organized by the chapter members on these campuses, with support from both Heterodox Academy and BridgeUSA staff. By collaboratively hosting events, the programming resulting from this funding will showcase a higher form of academic dialogue, in which disagreement is in service of scholarly truth-seeking, not only civil coexistence.

“This is an exciting opportunity for faculty, staff, and students to work together to hold impactful discussions on important and contentious topics,” said Martha McCaughey, Director of Member and Campus Engagement at Heterodox Academy. “At a time when dialogue across difference feels tense on campus, it’s more important than ever to model evidence-based arguments and constructive disagreement for improved knowledge and understanding.”

The funding will allow for collaborative programming on campuses that have both HxA Campus Communities and BridgeUSA chapters — currently, Boston University, Georgia State University, Louisiana State University, SUNY Cortland, University of Alabama, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Colorado, Boulder, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, University of South Carolina, University of Virginia, University of Wyoming.

The HxA Campus Community Network, launched in 2023, currently has communities on 50 campuses across North America and the UK; and BridgeUSA has chapters on more than 60 campuses. With HxA launching its fourth cohort of Campus Communities later this summer, the number of campuses that could be eligible for programming support via this grant is likely to grow.

About Heterodox Academy

Heterodox Academy is a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization of 7,000 faculty, staff, and students committed to advancing open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement to improve higher education. Contact Nicole Barbaro barbaro@heterodoxacademy.org

About BridgeUSA

BridgeUSA is a multi-partisan student movement that champions viewpoint diversity, responsible discourse, and a solution-oriented political culture. The purpose of BridgeUSA is to build a community — one in which students from across the ideological spectrum can engage as a group working together to understand–to bridge–the various perspectives behind the important political and social issues of our time.

About Arthur Vining Davis Foundations

The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations were organized in 1952 and are supported by two trusts established by Mr. Arthur Vining Davis. The Foundations aim to bear witness to Mr. Davis’ successful corporate leadership and his ambitious philanthropic vision. Since their inception, the Foundations have given over 4,600 grants totaling more than $385 million to colleges and universities, hospitals, medical schools, and divinity schools.