Summit weekend: It’s just after 7:00 a.m. on July 18, 2025, in downtown Indianapolis. Although staff had a strict call time for our all-hands meeting before heading to the Indiana University campus, a few members of the BridgeUSA national team arrived fashionably late. In the small hotel conference room, a calm buzz filled the space: Some reviewed the staff itinerary one last time, while others coordinated a group coffee order. On everyone’s mind, the 180 students about to arrive for a weekend of connection, growth, and action.
A Record-Breaking Summit for This Movement
The 2025 BridgeUSA National Summit marked a pivotal moment for our organization. We welcomed students from over 80 colleges and universities, our most expansive turnout ever. While most chapters sent three delegates, many brought four, thanks to their own chapter-led fundraising efforts. It was, by every measure, the most attended summit in BridgeUSA’s history. But with rising interest came a new challenge: How do you accommodate a growing student network while preserving the “WOW” factor that makes a BridgeUSA summit unforgettable?
How do you beat downtown Chicago in the summertime? Or Disney Springs in Orlando? This year, our team realized that the wow doesn’t come from flashy venues. It comes from the students themselves.
It’s there in the quiet moments when students exchange phone numbers between workshops or when chapter leaders from the Southeast have lunch with their counterparts from California. Perhaps best of all is when LSU and Alabama students set aside football rivalries to grab dinner together. That’s the real magic of BridgeUSA.
The fact is our chapter leaders are the ones that fuel each summit. They’re the ones that make each gathering work. That’s because they bring the energy and the sincere passion for improving our politics. Our national team just reflects it back to them. That’s why this year we made the decision to make our summit wide open to a broader group of chapter leaders. To do so we couldn’t host the summit in a hotel. So what kind of venue would offer the space while maintaining the connection to our mission. It’s pretty obvious when you think about it.
Hotels to Campuses: A Shift in Scale & A Return to Purpose
This summer we decided to bring the energy of the National Summit to where it most belongs, the college campus. By hosting our summit on a campus, we were able to increase the number of students in attendance from each chapter. More students, more energy, more power to the fastest-growing movement fighting political polarization.
From the kickoff reception Friday night, it was clear students were eager to dive in. Our expanded workshop list reflected the challenges our chapters are now facing:
- “Outreach to Local Media” prepared students to speak to journalists and build public presence.
- “Cross-Chapter Collaboration” helped leaders coordinate multi-campus events and bridge geographic divides.
Community and Connection
After a full day of workshops, students enjoyed a team dinner at a downtown bowling alley, then explored Indianapolis in groups. Watching chapter leaders from New York grab food with students from Tennessee or seeing Californians and Missourians split a cake together (yes, really) reminded us that what we’re building goes far beyond politics.
The friendships formed at the summit are unforgettable. But it’s crucial to remember this isn’t just a social retreat. It’s a reconnection to our mission and a chance to align ourselves on how to see that mission through. There is no better example of that than our most popular event year after year.
Dialogue in Action with Bridge the Gap
That event is Bridge The Gap, BTG as we like to call it. It features rotating small-group discussions on ten different political and cultural topics. Students spend 8 minutes at each table before moving on, ensuring they meet a wide range of people and perspectives.
The most common feedback?
“The people I was supposed to disagree with weren’t what I expected.”
That’s the power of real dialogue and it is what BridgeUSA is and always has been about.
Our goal in 2025 was simple: Bring students closer to BridgeUSA’s mission and send them home fired up to lead. The summit may be over, but the ripple effects are just beginning to be felt. On campuses across the country, our chapter leaders will soon return to hosting events and transforming how political conversations happen in America.
You don’t have to attend our National Summit to be part of this. But it helps.
Ready to join the movement?