As Congress worked to come up with a compromise to pass an aid package to Ukraine, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) reached out to someone who, at first glance, might seem unexpected: a former Republican senator. 

“I called Cory (Gardner) to get his advice about how we should be thinking about it,” Bennet said. 

This was hardly the first time Bennet and Gardner have asked for the other’s guidance. They represented Colorado in the U.S. Senate from 2015-2021, and worked together to pass numerous pieces of bipartisan legislation.

They shared their lessons about crossing the aisle during an April 22 event on the Colorado State University campus called “Building Bridges: Bipartisan Perspectives on Democracy.” 

“It is incredibly important that we have the ability to talk to each other when we disagree with each other, and to know that what comes across on the other side is something that we can be proud of as Americans,” Gardner said. 

Bennet added: “I feel like you put the old band back together. I think the two of us enjoyed working together, we enjoyed representing this state together, and we worked well together on many, many things and I miss Cory Gardner being around.” 

The event was part of CSU’s Thematic Year of Democracy, a university-wide initiative that invites members of the campus community to participate in a diverse variety of events centered around preparing the next generation to participate in all facets of civil society. 

CSU President Amy Parsons, who moderated the discussion, centered her questions around how current students can get involved with politics and improve a discourse that has become increasingly divisive.

“I see the polarization out there and I worry we’re not going to get our best and brightest to run for office,” she said. 

Both Gardner and Bennet responded with hope. 

“I guarantee you that when citizens are doing something that makes a difference … they will get noticed. They will be seen,” Gardner, a CSU alumnus, said. 

“Our entire democracy depends on the willingness of the students at the university and your peers from across the state to be involved,” Bennet said. 

Gardner said his experience as a CSU student working at the Colorado Capitol as part of the Straayer internship was formative in his career in public service, especially since he found himself working for former House Speaker Russell George, a legislator who later became one of his greatest mentors. 

“It’s those opportunities that you have to take: make the best of them,” Gardner said.