Boise State
University

The Campus Community at Boise State University is partnering with the Institute for Advancing American Values in pursuing its aims. IAAV has been working since 2020 to promote conversation across different viewpoints through events such as the Distinguished Lecture Series, Idaho Listens and Boise State Listens events, which draw university and community members from diverse walks of life. Andrew Finstuen, the inaugural director of the institute sees the partnership with HxA as a chance “to further the institute’s mission to talk and listen to each other respectfully about the issues and values that have shaped the Treasure Valley, the state, and the nation.”

Future campus community programming may include point-counterpoint forums on various topics (where participants take up a perspective that may or may not be their own, not for the purpose of debating in pursuit of agreement, but rather informing in pursuit of understanding), regular social gatherings for faculty and staff from across the university to build a diverse community, and specifically student-focused events to practice conversation across differences.