Tim Shriver on Philanthropy and the ‘Vortex of Contempt’
The chair of Special Olympics and co-founder of the Dignity Index talks with The Commons about the Charlie Kirk assassination and nonprofit work to rid our disagreements of hate and outrage.
By Chronicle Staff
Contributor
September 24, 2025 | Read Time: 2 minutes
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Tim Shriver travels the country talking to political officials, business leaders, and average Americans about toxic rhetoric, including hate-filled denunciations that experts say drive violence like the recent assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Shriver, the chair of Special Olympics, is also co-founder of the Dignity Index, which rates political discourse.
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Democrats and Republicans want to end their ugly war of words, Shriver said in Tuesday’s Commons in Conversation interview. Both, however, worry about unilateral disarmament. His message: “We know this from conflicts throughout history: It doesn’t matter so much who started it. It matters who finishes it. Who’s going to end it?”
All of us, he said, are responsible for creating the environment that contributed to Kirk’s murder. Red and blue have fallen into a “vortex of contempt” where winning on political issues means attacking, demonizing, and dehumanizing the other side.
“Which path do we choose going forward?” Shriver asked. “Do we collectively try to choose to treat each other with more dignity, or do we collectively join this outrage complex that, I’m sorry to say, can lead to violence, and will.”
People and organizations like the Dignity Index — groups often seen as part of the bridging or pluralism movement — are trying to change the culture at the grassroots level, something at which philanthropy excels, Shriver said.
“I believe philanthropy is just awakening to the idea that this issue, in and of itself, needs dedicated resources and support,” he said. “I hope philanthropy will respond over the next five to 10 years and build real commitments to these spaces and to the people leading them.”
Shriver spoke with Chronicle of Philanthropy deputy opinion editor Nandita Raghuram at a LinkedIn Live event. Watch a recording on the Chronicle’s YouTube channel.
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