What a week!  

The Dignity movement had its first-ever gathering, and it was a sell-out!  We called it a “leadership summit,” but it was more like a love fest—equal parts learning and inspiration; equal parts taking notes and taking names; equal parts listening to understand and sharing our truth as best we could.

Just over a decade ago, the University of Utah launched a new public policy institute that distinguished itself almost immediately as a vital hub for research to help political and business leaders make informed decisions.

For years, we’ve been worried that a culture of contempt would produce an increase in violence. Tragically, we’ve seen exactly that in recent weeks.

There are many ways to describe the Dignity Index. Easy-to-use. Impactful. Research-based. For Chi Kim, it’s all of that and so much more: “It has the beauty of a sophisticated tool,” she said. “It’s universal and appealing. You can put it in any context and it just makes sense.” 

Last week, Members of the Problem Solvers Caucus gathered on the House steps to condemn political violence and call for both parties to lower the temperature of their rhetoric.

Once you put a dehumanizing label on someone, it can become not only okay to kill him, but also virtuous. We must turn away from this attitude and instead treat others with dignity.

As we continue to process and respond to last week’s horrific acts of violence–the assassination of Charlie Kirk and a school shooting in Colorado–our team here at the Dignity Index is continuing to engage with community members in Utah and with members of our online community.

A number of years ago, Tim Shriver was talking about the Dignity Index to a big figure in the media industry. The man listened politely to our plans for reducing contempt and then said, “Good luck. You’re up against a two trillion-dollar industry.”

Yesterday, September 2nd, was the symbolic end of the summer and the return to work. Of course, for the vast majority of us, work didn’t stop in July or August. But nonetheless, the Tuesday after Labor Day feels different. The calendar turns, the days shorten, and we’re back to work.

If you’re a regular reader of our newsletter, you know that our team takes turns reporting on our experiences and work in building the dignity movement. And you’re likely accustomed to my messages, which are most often sparked by insight and inspiration I’ve received while traveling and meeting new people across the country who are engaged with the Dignity Index.

I want to tell you two favorite stories of mine, and they’re favorites because of the goodness in them. They’re snapshots of people in the upper reaches of the Dignity Index – at SEVEN and EIGHT, where we see human beings at their best.  

I don’t know about you, but a huge amount of the news I get includes stories about AI. AI is going to make everything more efficient, eliminate millions of jobs, supercharge military threats, write our term papers, dismantle our identities, undermine our capacity to find truth, cure diseases, and be our therapists.

“How are we going to go deeper?”

That was the question on Rosalie McVay’s mind after several years of leading a discussion group for women to form bonds across race, religion, and geography in an Illinois town outside of Chicago.

It’s hard to overstate the feeling of excitement of going to India for the first time. Even if it’s for just a few days, you’ll be working most of the time, and you’re nervous that jet lag might play havoc with all your good intentions.

If there’s a group of people who embody what we call “the starving majority” of Americans who are exhausted by division and contempt, it’s our school leaders.

A couple of years ago, I was coming home from work in a fantastic mood, just floating on a wave of goodwill, when I found myself crossing the street at a corner. When I was in the middle of the street, the driver of a car that had inched past the crosswalk took his foot off the brake to make a right turn, and his car started backing toward me.

My colleague, Meghan Monroe, a former teacher and trainer in the Dignity Index, went out to lunch with a friend on the 4th of July. Her friend was late and Meghan found herself waiting outside the restaurant where, to her surprise, a protest march approached.

June has been a busy month for our Dignity Index team, with presentations and workshops stretching from Arizona, Utah, and Chicago, to Virginia, Maryland, New York City, and Rhode Island. And India (!) – where my colleague Alicia Burke and I traveled to lead a series of workshops with corporate leaders in Ahmedebad.

Last week, I gave a talk about our dignity movement to a conference of higher education leaders. I shared our core beliefs: that how we treat each other is the new issue of our time, that the Dignity Index helps us see that we’ve all become more contemptuous than we realize, and that with a little effort and new skills, we can all do better.  

Occasionally, a tragedy can wake us up and change our path. Perhaps, the political assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman in Minnesota on Saturday can make us see what we’ve been denying – that political language can lead to violence.