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Building Community With the Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue
Since 2012, the Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue (ICAD) has helped communities in Harrisonburg and across Virginia talk and think together. Co-directed by Lori Britt, Professor of Communication Studies, and Rob Alexander, Associate Professor of Political Science, its mission is to inspire dialogue and deliberation to shape inclusive communities and inform sound policies.
Working with undergraduate and graduate students as well as on- and off-campus partners of all kinds, the institute has a far reach. Student engagement starts within the center itself. ICAD hires and trains Student Affiliates to facilitate dialogue and teach those skills to their peers.
"In a society that faces continued polarization and technology dependency, we need to reconnect and find common ground. Facilitation provides [an] opportunity,” said Cuda Zmuda (‘23), a former Student Affiliate and Assistant Director of Campus and Community Engagement for the institute. The hands-on learning experience in the Affiliate program enables these students to grow comfortable with difficult conversations.
In teaching students to facilitate, ICAD helps fill the gap between viewpoints, generations, and social groups. The institute’s partnership with the Lifelong Learning Institute connects members of older generations with current students to bridge an often-challenging generational divide.
“We measure our successes one conversation at a time,” says Alexander. “The more people that participate in conversations, the better, but it’s a process that takes time and effort.”
The institute recently played a key role in shaping Harrisonburg’s allocation plan for $23.8 million dollars of American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds. ICAD partnered with the Harrisonburg City Council to collect public input about how the funds should be used, hosting events across the community and translating the surveys into seven different languages. They ultimately collected over 3,200 responses and presented their findings at a subsequent council meeting and in a publicly available report.
This community-building advocacy work requires enormous patience and skill. “The issues our communities are facing require us to stay at the table with each other,” says Britt, who has shaped ICAD and its work from the beginning. For her, all that effort is worthwhile.
