University of Utah Funds National Project to Score Civility in Political Speech

The University of Utah is spending $400,000 annually to support a national project that rates political speech on a scale of dignity. The initiative, called the Dignity Index, is now expanding to 25 states. The program uses an eight-point scale to analyze public dialogue. Trained evaluators score language from a low of "vilification" to a high of "acknowledgment." The goal is to measure the quality of discourse, not the political content. Project leaders say the index moved beyond a successful pilot phase. They report that communities using the framework have seen improved cooperation on local issues. University officials state the funding comes from private donations, not tuition. They argue the project provides a neutral tool to help reduce toxic polarization in American democracy.