Bridge USA has started a new chapter, Bridge Quinnipiac, at Quinnipiac University. The club was officially recognized as of Oct. 31 and has been placed on probationary status.
Bridge USA is a group whose mission is to “empower young people to engage in constructive dialogue and disagreement to improve the quality of politics,” according to their website.
The organization currently has 108 college chapters across the country.
The Quinnipiac chapter focuses on facilitating “empathetic discussions,” mainly political or polarizing topics, with people who have differing viewpoints, according to Bridge Quinniac President Adrihanna Collins, a sophomore journalism and history double-major.
Bridge Quinnipiac’s editorial board consists of President Adrihanna Collins, Vice President of Events Eden Berry, VP of Outreach Sarah Vincent, VP of Marketing Alan McNeely and VP of Operations Aishe Azani.
“It’s focused on hearing other people’s viewpoints and… understanding what the other person is thinking,” Collins said.
McNeely, senior journalism and political science major, agreed with Collins’ statement.
“We all have disagreements, and it’s OK to disagree with people, but as long as you can sort of understand where the other side is coming from, and that is the perspective of Bridge,” McNeely said.
The club aims to create a safe space where students can discuss political issues, and “express your opinion and not feel attacked,” Vincent, sophomore journalism major, said.
“I think it helps people to grow… at least being able to sit down and hear what other people have to say. And I think Bridge is a great way to do that,” McNeely added.
Through this, Bridge Quinnipiac also hopes to end polarization, according to Vincent.
Action for the club started when Bridge USA reached out to Collins, asking if she would be interested in becoming the president.
She accepted the offer and worked with Aticez Zulfi, her assigned communication development chair from Bridge USA, to start Bridge Quinnipiac.
Collins joined Bridge because she’s “interested in kind of cultivating an environment where we’re not only letting our opinions be heard, but we’re listening to other people,” she said.
McNeely also shared his reason for joining.
“The reason why I decided to join Bridge is because I want to be involved in at least trying to sit people down to have a conversation,” he said.
While the group is relatively new, Collins plans to “fit in as many discussions as possible,” something McNeely agrees with.
“We are hosting an immigration/ICE debate on Dec. 2, at Tator Hall 117 and we’re just trying to get more events like this… just people to sit down on both sides,” McNeely said.
Vincent said her goals involve seeing “Quinnipiac become a place where people don’t feel uncomfortable expressing their beliefs.”
Additionally, she also wishes for “Bridge to be a place where people can understand each other as human beings, and understand that not all of us have the same path.”
Collins aims to cultivate “an environment where we’re not only letting our opinions be heard, but we’re listening to other people.”
Bridge Quinnipiac meetings will operate on a biweekly basis.
