MCRP alumnus Konner Kelly (MCRP ’23) was part of a team of students who won the 2023 Special Student Innovation Award from the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution. Along with students in The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, the group received the award for a conflict resolution framework they developed while studying at the Ohio State University. The framework is detailed in their report, “Initiating Constructive Conversations Among Polarized University Student Groups.”

The student authors included Moritz College of Law alumni Maxwell Herath, Julie Howard, Meara Maccabee, and Ohio State City and Regional Planning master's student Konner Kelly. The students used dispute system design concepts to deal with a growing problem of politically polarized student groups, which they believed had undermined the healthy intellectual exchange that is a hallmark of higher education. Engaging Polarized Groups was taught in spring 2023 by Moritz College of Law Dean Emeritus Nancy Rogers and College of Social Work Dean Emeritus Tom Gregoire.

Kelly added, “I also hope that this framework will be useful in navigating the increasingly polarized world that we live in and help disarm fear and anger with empathy and understanding.”

Read the press release from the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution, Mortiz’s news story, and watch the acceptance ceremony.