improving campus speech cultures

Getting students to engage openly in face-to-face discussions about controversial topics is hard, and there are no easy solutions. Sway offers an alternative: low-stakes, one-on-one, scaffolded chats where students can explore their views in a challenging and respectful space — before they arrive, during orientation week, or both.

91% comfortable sharing sincere views
92% found their partner respectful
83% valued chatting across a difference
80% rated the chat good or awesome

Those are ratings of a required assignment, from more than 11,000 students at 100+ institutions. The whole survey, question by question, is on student survey data.

two ways to bring Sway to orientation

Both use the same platform and the same AI discussion facilitator. In both, students chat on their own schedules, from their phones or laptops. Sway is grant-funded and free for students and educators.

over the summer

Before campus

Incoming students chat over the summer, each paired with a future classmate who holds a different view. Sway's asynchronous, text-based format is built for a class that is still dispersed.

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on arrival

During orientation week

Students are introduced to Sway at a core event where attendance is already expected, and complete their chats over the rest of the week. No new event has to be added to the programme.

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before campus: connecting students over the summer

Pair every incoming student with a future classmate who sees the world differently — and let Sway guide the conversation.

Over the summer, each student shares their opinions on a few topics; Sway matches them with a peer who disagrees and facilitates the discussion from there. Students take part from anywhere, before they ever set foot on campus.

Incoming students already connect over the summer — but through social media and affinity groups that can reinforce existing bubbles. Sway pairs students across differences for a structured conversation focused on reasoning, not likes. By move-in day, each student will share a real experience with a classmate who sees the world differently.

The experience lands reliably, and it is enjoyable: across institutions, 91% of students feel comfortable sharing their honest opinions — even with a stranger who disagrees — and 80% rate the chat "Good" or "Awesome". Campus leaders also gain a rich, de-identified picture of the incoming class before orientation even begins: where students find common ground, where they persistently disagree, and what arguments they find convincing.

during orientation week

First-year orientation is an opportunity to nudge campus speech cultures toward greater openness and inclusivity. Most college orientations now include mandatory presentations on open inquiry, encountering opposing viewpoints, and academic freedom. But just like playing the guitar, engaging in open inquiry is a skill, and it cannot be learned passively from a lecture or a self-paced module. Sway provides a space where students practice one-on-one: experimenting with ideas and having their assumptions challenged, while remaining respectful.

Including Sway does not require adding events to an already packed programme. It can be introduced in the context of a core event where attendance is expected of all — when the college's president addresses the incoming class, for instance, some part of the presentation will likely concern viewpoint diversity. That is a natural moment to introduce it.

how to introduce Sway

A senior campus leader introduces Sway as part of the college's commitment to academic pluralism and the liberal arts tradition.
Set aside a few minutes for students to submit their opinions then and there.

Sway matches students and sends reminders only after they have entered their opinions, so the single most effective thing you can do for participation is to have them entered during a core activity — at the end of a mandatory presentation, for example — rather than in a follow-up email.
Over the rest of the week, each student completes a 30-minute chat with a peer who holds a different view on a challenging topic.

Sway is flexible: students do not need to chat simultaneously or be in the same room. They can engage when it is convenient, on their phones or laptops — during lunch, between other orientation activities, or at the end of the day. Sway's AI discussion facilitator opens every discussion by helping the pair agree when they will talk.

campus-wide benefits

Community across differences. An intellectually engaging, respectful conversation with someone you disagree with primes students for an academic life built on norms of constructive dialogue. It is also an opportunity to make a friend across an ideological divide — an apt way to begin any college career.

Campus insights. Sway gives administrators a rich source of de-identified data, and it answers three questions that are otherwise expensive to ask:

belief: What do our students actually believe, before anyone tells them what they are supposed to say?
persuasion: What arguments do they find convincing — and which ones land badly?
common ground: Where, on a contested question, does this class already agree?

Sway produces instructor reports with data-driven insights into every chat, while always preserving student privacy. It also surveys students about their discussions, so campus leaders get immediate feedback on the activity; survey items can be customized to address questions from across campus.

Up next

Bringing Sway to your campus, and the other places it runs.