Elon University’s Institute for Politics & Public Affairs has joined with other colleges and universities from around the United States to form the National Campaign for Political & Civic Engagement. We are a non-partisan group that fosters political awareness and civic engagement among students.
We plan to return to local middle and high schools to work with students on civic education projects. We plan to develop a civic education program or model that we can use repeatedly in different classrooms throughout our area to work with teachers in educating students about their civic rights and responsibilities.
We will also post flyers and large posters around campus to raise awareness of voter registration opportunities. We plan to distribute T-shirts to encourage students to vote. In the fall of 2012 we will focus on registering incoming students to vote.
The National Campaign is currently planning a campus debate to be held this fall. Both students and faculty will be participating and attending. Our goal is for this debate to encourage political participation and to increase awareness among students.
Five Elon students were among a group of 25 brought together by Harvard University's Institute of Politics to discuss their views during the last debate.
John Della Volpe is the director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics and is founder and CEO of SocialSphere, a big data and social media analytics company.
Phi Beta Kappa Plaza, 9:40-10:20 a.m.
North Carolina Campus Compact (NCCC) recently announced that Elon University won the NCCC voter registration contest by registering the most students among eight participating North Carolina universities.
Beginning in 2014, the John C. Culver Institute of Politics Scholarship will be awarded annually with full tuition toward a graduate degree at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
