HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) — James Madison University (JMU) has received a $2.72 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support civic discourse and dialogue across institutions of higher education nationwide.

According to a release, the grant enables other colleges and universities to learn from JMU’s practices in civic discourse from the James Madison Center for Civic Engagement’s Better Conversations Together program.

JMU is one of only 16 universities and colleges selected – and the only institution from Virginia – for the civil discourse funding from a highly competitive and deep pool of applicants.  

In September 2025, JMU received more than $2.1 million from the department – making both grants the largest competitively awarded grants in the university’s history – to expand its national leadership in civics education. That funding is part of a historic $153 million federal investment in American History and Civics education.

Kara Dillard, the project’s director and executive director of the James Madison Center for Civic Engagement, said these two grants represent a nearly $5 million investment into JMU’s civic discourse programming, firmly cementing the university as the national leader in civic engagement and civic discourse.

“This nearly $5 million investment affirms JMU’s position as the national leader in civic education and deliberative discourse,” said Dillard. “James Madison himself championed deliberation as the cornerstone of democratic self-governance – the belief that through reasoned debate and careful consideration of diverse perspectives, citizens can reach sound decisions for the common good. This grant allows us to honor that founding vision by embedding deliberation as a way to engage across differences and address civic problems together. The skills students develop through Better Conversations Together, such as listening deeply to different views and values, being intellectually humble, and deliberating constructively, are essential to sustaining democracy. This is the most consequential work we can do in higher education.”

“The two grants together represent a unique opportunity to create a comprehensive kindergarten through college learning environment where from day one until they graduate from college students learn and practice deliberation-based civic discourse skills,” added Dillard.