A message from Community Dialogues Director Danielle Torres
As the new Community Dialogues Director, I am thrilled to send out this mid-year update! I continue to be energized by the collaborative spirit and the clear commitment our faculty, staff, and students have to these important conversations.
Launched in January 2023, the Community Dialogues initiative remains one of President Holmes-Sullivan’s signature efforts, grounded in the ultimate goal of helping our community learn and practice dialogue across differences. Our mission is to build the institutional capacity to listen, speak, and learn with each other about topics central to our well-being and growth, even when those conversations are complex or contentious. The success of this initiative is made possible by the collective action of many: the trained student, faculty, and staff practitioners from all three campuses, the vital support from our partners at Essential Partners, and the willingness of the entire community to engage in these meaningful dialogues.
I’m pleased to share the work of this fall and, more importantly, the inspiring projects we have planned to extend our campus connections in spring 2026!
In Community,
Dr. Danielle Torres
Fall 2025 Activities
The fall semester featured critical community engagement and significantly expanded the reach and connections of our dialogue program.
Dialogues continue to be successfully integrated into existing institutional structures, and we are excited to be a part of the ENVX Fall Symposium titled Common Ground: How We Can Engage Across Difference With a Shared Love of Land. Community Dialogues had been partnering with ENVX student leadership since the spring to support the shaping of the symposium and participated in the event, “Exploring our Common Ground: Overview and Engagement Workshop”, along with other community partners, as part of the week-long activities. Big thanks to all the efforts of the student and faculty organizers.
We work with Essential Partners to train and coach people across campus to facilitate dialogues in and out of the classroom. Read their impact story Lewis & Clark: Dialogue is Who We Are to learn more about the significance of our work together.
We focused on advanced training for multiple staff to deepen their facilitation skills, and actively engaged with several Strategic Planning implementation initiatives to ensure dialogue skills inform our long-term institutional development. We had trained practitioners take advantage of advanced training: Jonathan Manz and Theresa Brostowitz completed the summer intensive training alongside other practitioners from across the country. They were able to connect with fellow practitioners from other higher education institutions, nonprofit organizations to gain consultation and advice and hone their skills.
Fall 2025 Activities Testimonials
The Essential Partners Summer Intensive offered a dedicated, small-group space—primarily for educators—to discuss and learn. Here, we acquired and implemented various dialogic practices that helped me rethink my approach to student leader training. This experience also made me more intentional when curating campus spaces for productive and intentional dialogue.
-Interim Assistant Dean and Director of First-Year Experience Jonathan Manz
This year’s ENVX symposium was an experiment, and the practical workshop that you contributed to was an innovative event to open the week with! While our project is only a step towards shifting the course of the nation, your activity and advice served as an engagement model for students and symposium attendees. Your organization embodies the spirit of Common Ground, and I’m so glad that you could showcase that to our students.
-Joaquin Sandoval BA ’26
Upcoming Spring 2026 Projects
We are looking ahead to a highly engaged spring semester with several exciting projects.
In partnership with the L&C AI Advisory Group, we will be launching a series of Artificial Intelligence dialogues across campus to help faculty, staff, and students explore their attitudes and experiences with the rapidly changing ethical, pedagogical, and cultural impacts of artificial intelligence. We are looking forward to exploring these questions together and deepening our understanding of the diverse perspectives and experiences across our community.
We are all excited about our partnership with Albina Vision Trust and acknowledge that the Albina neighborhood’s deep history of racism and gentrification requires a thoughtful approach to our partnership. We’ve been engaged in supporting the multiple ways of addressing potential cultural competency professional development tools to deepen our L&C community’s understanding of our local history and responsibilities in moving forward as mindful, skilled, and knowledgeable partners.
We will be providing direct faculty support to integrate dialogue skills and activities into their classroom curricula.
We will again host dialogues aligned with various campus events, so look for us around campus for both ongoing and emergent events!
Look Out For: Please look out for communications regarding spring training opportunities to join our cohort of dialogue practitioners. And please reach out if you have an interest in learning about incorporating dialogue sessions or workshops for your specific groups.
Key Commitments
Our core purpose remains centered on upholding the principle that institutions of higher education should prioritize the open exchange of ideas. We strive to foster the respectful, constructive dialogue necessary for a flourishing learning community and a vibrant democratic society.
Community Dialogues encompasses more than just structured protocols you may know. At its core are dialogic principles–foundational tools that can be expanded in countless ways and applied to a myriad of contexts in our work across campus. This year, we aim to help you learn and utilize these principles more broadly.
We emphasize the core purpose of teaching skills that matter to making an impact on the world and are marks of a liberal arts education—such as listening deeply, thinking critically, and speaking thoughtfully—to build relational trust and collective well-being. We do this for practitioners as well as for anyone who engages in a Community Dialogues experience.
Moving Forward Together
This is an exciting time for our campus and the Community Dialogues initiative, and I look forward to supporting all of you to make dialogues an essential part of how we connect and grow. Thank you for your commitment to building a more listening, understanding, and stronger community together.
To inquire about requesting a dialogue, discuss dialogic approaches, or express your interest in training, please reach out to us directly at: communitydialogues@lclark.edu.
The Office of the President is located in Frank Manor House on the Undergraduate Campus. MSC: 33
