At this polarized moment in U.S. politics, the University of Utah and Project UNITE have joined forces to make political and public discourse more productive.
Under one of the university’s first affiliation agreements, the U will join UNITE’s effort to promote the study, teaching, and applied practice of human dignity.
President Taylor Randall said he sees alignment already in the missions of the two organizations. The university is dedicated to preparing students as leaders and citizens, generating new knowledge and engaging the community around it. UNITE is focused on helping the university and other organizations spread knowledge about how the way we speak to each other when we disagree can transform society, for good or ill.
“Too often cynicism, mistrust, and anger feel intractably woven into the world around us. The university and UNITE can do something about that,” said Randall. “Our missions are uniquely complementary. Working together, we can ease the divisions splitting our friends, families, communities and leaders and create greater unity in our world.”
UNITE was founded in 2018 by CEO Tim Shriver in an effort to help ease divisions, prevent violence and solve problems. In 2021, the nonprofit developed the Dignity Index, an eight-point scale that measures how people talk to each other when they disagree—ranging from ONE, which shows total contempt for the other side, to EIGHT, which shows dignity to everyone, no matter what.
The collaboration between the U and the nonprofit started in September 2022, with the first-ever public demonstration of the Dignity, as UNITE and the University partnered to use the Dignity Index to score political speech in Utah’s congressional mid-term elections. With leadership from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and David Eccles School of Business, 22 student coders from the Hinckley Institute of Politics helped analyze candidates’ political speeches each week, scoring them based on the index’s scale. Since that time, training in the Dignity Index has expanded to include education, local government, and corporate settings.
“What began as a pilot to establish the validity of the Dignity Index itself has grown into an initiative with touch points in 25 states,” said Tami Pyfer, co-creator of the Dignity Index and chief external relations officer for UNITE. “We’re experiencing explosive growth in the demand for engagement with organizations in a wide variety of sectors, all seeking to find better ways to communicate and solve problems together. We are thrilled to be expanding our partnership with the University of Utah.”
Tim Shriver: “The primary skill I believe we need in the 21st century is the capacity to think and feel and understand difference and not be scared of it.”
Pyfer and Dignity Index co-creator Tom Rosshirt will be the UNITE leads on this new partnership, working with senior research associate and adjunct professor Samantha Ball, who will serve as the program’s research director. Ball has worked at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute for 10 years and was instrumental in pilot-testing the Dignity Index in 2022. She will lead the partnership’s research, measurement and evaluation activities.
“This partnership between the University and UNITE could not be a more perfect fit,” said Tim Shriver, founder of UNITE and co-creator of the Dignity Index. “From our earliest work on the Dignity Index, President Randall saw its promise and committed resources that brought academic rigor to the index and validated its use and value. That’s why our team considers Utah the birthplace and home base of the index, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership.”
Shriver also is one of the university’s Impact Scholars and spoke at the 2023 Commencement.
Under the terms of the agreement, the university will provide $1.5 million in actual and in-kind funding over three years to support three staff positions and will provide space at the Thomas S. Monson Center, home of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. UNITE will match the contribution through outreach and training activities, along with other grant funding. UNITE and the U will organize joint research and programming to advance the dignity movement.
MEDIA & PR CONTACTS
- Rebecca Walsh 801-550-4930 Rebecca.walsh@utah.edu