CONWAY,
Ark. (April 27, 2016) – Four Hendrix College students were one of five winning teams of the national 2016 Letters to an Elected
Official competition sponsored by Project Pericles.
The Debating for Democracy (D4D) ™ competition promotes civic engagement and effective
advocacy skills among a wide range of students. Students from Periclean
campuses sent letters on critical public policy issues to elected officials throughout the United States. For the
first time, students also submitted project proposals outlining how they would
use their award. The five winning teams will each receive $500 to work on their
issue during the 2016-17 academic year.
This year’s letters proposed
innovative solutions on issues ranging from online privacy and adapting Europe’s Right to be Forgotten
in the United States, LGBTQ access and rights, extending Federal insurance to
all agricultural crops, restricting local media sources from publishing the
names of juveniles charged as adults for crimes, and expanding Medicaid
coverage for mental health treatment and recovery support programs.
The winning team from Hendrix included the following
students:
- Katie
Dobbins ‘17
- Emma
Gaither ‘18
- Casey
Hawkins ‘18
- Tejas
Soman ‘18
The students wrote to State Senator Joyce Elliott (D-AR)
about restricting local media sources from publishing the names of
juveniles charged as adults for crimes. The team will partner with student
organizations in Arkansas to publicize their issue and organize a concert to
raise awareness. The students also plan to hold a panel discussion and a letter
writing campaign to petition elected officials to address the matter.
The project had its roots in an assignment for a public
policy course taught by Hendrix politics professor Dr. Peter Gess, director of the Hendrix Odyssey and International Programs.
“This project notes
the way that the theory of the classroom connects with the real world in our
engaged learning work at Hendrix,” said Dr. Jay Barth, director of civic
engagement projects at Hendrix. “It will be exciting to see the next steps in
these students’ advocacy efforts.”
Since 2008, hundreds of teams
from all Periclean colleges and universities have participated in the Letters
to an Elected Official Competition. Every year, a panel of judges with significant legislative
experience select the winning letters written by teams of students from
Periclean campuses.
An
elected official who served as one of the external evaluators this year wrote,
“let all these students know what wonderful and impressive work they did,”
adding that “if [she] had received any of the letters from a constituent, [she]
would have been blown away.”
About
Hendrix College
Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college in Conway,
Arkansas. Founded in 1876 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church since
1884, Hendrix is featured in Colleges
That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges and is
nationally recognized in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings for
academic quality, community, innovation, and value. For more information, visit
www.hendrix.edu.
About
Project Pericles
Founded in 2001 by educational
philanthropist Eugene M. Lang, Project Pericles is an organization that
encourages and facilitates commitments by colleges and universities to include
social responsibility and participatory citizenship as essential elements of
their educational programs. Project Pericles works directly with its 30 member
institutions, called Pericleans, as they individually and collaboratively
develop model civic engagement programs in their classrooms, on the campuses,
and in their communities. Project Pericles encourages higher education to
promote a more just, equitable, and compassionate society by reawakening
American undergraduate education to its responsibility to prepare students to
be effective citizens and leaders of their communities, nations, and world.
Find out more at www.projectpericles.org
Debating for Democracy (D4D)™
is a distinctive campus-based program that represents the mission of Project
Pericles in action. Students acquire the tools and tactics they need to advance
their issues and to get their messages across to elected officials, fellow
students, community groups, and the media.