Senior and co-president of the Bridge USA club Jesse Gelman said he was sitting outside with a book when he “got the call from Nicole that it was over.”
In February, he and his co-president Nicole Rodriguez received an email saying that the club, one chapter of a national organization, would not be returning in September.
Gelman and Rodriguez, two seniors, are now navigating how to manage the club and hopefully keep it alive next fall. Originally in both high schools and colleges, the non-profit organization hosted discussions on current issues with the goal of fostering civil discourse. Funds were directed towards hosting special events and speakers, and highschool chapters were given access to counselors. Now, with Bridge USA terminating their highschool program, the Masters chapter is soon to be on its own.
What is Bridge USA?
The non-profit focuses on kindling civil discourse and bridging political divides between students. According to Rodriguez, “It’s not associated with Democrats or Republicans, whereas at most colleges you have, like ‘College Dems’ or ‘College Republicans.’” The club chooses a specific current event to focus on each meeting, and the presidents run a moderated discussion.
Rodriguez said, “You can get the best conversation possible, where people feel like they’re interacting with new ideas and that everyone’s being respectful and present.”
Though Bridge USA is found in both highschools and colleges, college chapters of Bridge look a little different. For college chapters, Rodriguez said, “It’s sometimes harder to have kids show up to the meetings because college kids just tend to be more focused on pre-professional clubs.” However, college chapters will organize events and guest speakers more frequently.
What effect will it have on campus?
Although the club operates independently from the national organization, the presidents make use of resources given to them by Bridge USA. This includes regular meetings with a CBC, or college-level Bridge counselor, who gives advice and answers questions. While Rodriguez and Gelman have access to their CBC throughout the rest of the year, the students will be on their own in September.
Rodriguez said, “You can’t use the name Bridge anymore. You can’t use any of the same materials. You can’t have any affiliation to the organization.” Additionally, the club no longer receives funding for food and events.
According to Rodriguez, the original email didn’t provide any explanation as for the termination of the program. Later, in the meeting with the CBC, she formed an understanding as to why it was canceled. “They’ve had so much interest from high school chapters. They had, like, 20 or 30 more high school chapters that signed up to be part of Bridge. I think that the volume was too much for them to focus on.”
Gelman said, “There were a couple things going into it, mainly just the act of their prioritizing the college experience, and just that prioritization meant that they couldn’t allocate as many resources to the high school.”
“It’s a shame,” Rodriguez said about the club ending, “Right when there was the need for it, and all of these schools had interest.”
A future for Bridge?
Gelman believes that with the rebranding, the primary challenge will depend on the student body. “I definitely see recruiting efforts being a challenge, I think if we receive enough support, we can rebrand under a new name, and keep the principal alive.”
He continued, “But if we don’t really receive support from the student populace, support from people who want to see Bridge succeed, or whatever Bridge will become, I definitely think that it is a possibility we’re not going to see Bridge again next year.”
Junior Mason Dwek, who intends on running for President of whatever club replaces Bridge next year, has faith that people will show up if the conversations are worthwhile. He said, “We don’t need a higher bureaucracy to make it work.”
Rodrguez finds that the club provides unique opportunities for discussion. “I was excited [about having Bridge USA] because sometimes I think it’s kind of inappropriate for teachers to talk about political issues in class, particularly when it’s not related to the subject of what’s going on.” She continued, “There’s just a different vibe when a teacher’s in the room and they’re listening to what you’re saying. You’re just not going to be as honest as if you’re just with other kids. So I think it’s really important just for people to get practice, get interest, engaging with other ideas.”
Gelman said, “I definitely think today’s climate, especially in Masters itself, since we’re such a tense environment, I think maintaining an area where you can have open decorum, open conversation and moderation is really, really important. I definitely think that that’s something I’d want to keep going.”
The necessity of having a club geared towards civil discourse is what Rodriguez said pushes her to try to preserve it for next year. “I just think it’s a good idea to have some sort of forum to do that, and I guess I wish it worked.”
