Wesleyan University
Open main menu
Menu
Close menu Close left shield right shield
  • About
  • Admission & Aid
  • Academics
  • Life @ Wesleyan
  • Visit
  • News & Events
  • Athletics
  • Giving
  • Alumni
  • Parents
  • Directory
  • Tools
    • WesPortal
    • Library
    • OneStop
    • Calendar
    • WesMaps
  • Search
Skip to content Skip to content
Roth on Wesleyan

E2020

Civic Engagement Has Never Been More Important

January 7, 2021January 7, 2021 by Michael S. Roth '78

Like so many, yesterday I watched with horror as a mob invaded the Capitol Building, hoping to stop the certification of November’s election results. Inside Higher Ed asked if I would write a quick response to what I was seeing, and I immediately thought of the Bob Dylan song, “Idiot Wind.”

“Idiot wind, blowing like a circle around my skull, from the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol.” The words of the Bob Dylan song echo in my mind as I watch rioters marauding in Washington, D.C., playing make-believe politics in their cloud cuckoo world of conspiracies and fantasies.

Though despite yesterday’s stunning turn of events, I wrote, I do see glimmers of hope:

That said, I was surprised, if not quite stunned, when I got up in the middle of last night and saw the results from Georgia. I know how hard people worked to turn out the vote in this runoff election, and how Black women and their allies overcame obstacles to ensure that the right to vote would be respected — and their votes counted. I have also been heartened and surprised how young people across the country have found so many ways to engage in the political system over these many months, despite the pandemic. 

You can read the rest of the article here.

As I was finishing, a reporter from The Chronicle of Higher Education called to talk about what was happening in Washington. I focused my comments on what had been accomplished over the last several months in energizing students to participate in the electoral system. I was thinking of—for example—Anna Horowitz ’23, who was on leave fall semester working on organizing voters in the Senate races in Georgia. Led by a courageous group of Black women, she and so many others were building the future of civic participation, even in a pandemic.  “As we begin to restore order, let’s use education for the civic preparedness we desperately need,” I’d said on Twitter earlier in the day.  Once again, we in higher education must recommit to encouraging the kind of democratic practice that is fully in sync with the goals of liberal education: habits of discussion, compromise, collective aspiration and care for the vulnerable.

It has never been more important.

 

Categories UncategorizedTags Bob Dylan, Chronicle of Higher Education, Civic Engagement, E2020, Inside Higher Ed

Let’s Begin the Next Phase of Civic Engagement

November 9, 2020 by Michael S. Roth '78

It’s hard to digest all the news, but the elections are mostly behind us. The important question as to who will be president has been settled, but as the fog of that uncertainty has lifted, we must contend with all the other questions that remain. How will we find ways to come together to face the challenges ahead — epidemiological, environmental, social, political, economic? The list goes on and on, and if there is often strong disagreement as to how best to define these challenges, there is no disputing that we have our work to do. And that includes reckoning with our histories of injustice if we are to reinvigorate our aspirations for freedom, equality and justice.

Cynicism is easy, and sophisticated despair (often disguised with irony) is merely an admission of a lack of imagination and will. We need both imagination and will to work together to build a better future — for our campus, for our city, and for the country. There are already groups of students working with faculty and administrators on making Wesleyan a more equitable and inclusive place, and I am hopeful that we can build on that cooperation to  continue to make meaningful civic contributions well beyond the borders of the university.

Listening with an open heart and an open mind will lead us to better ways of thinking and acting. Now, the next phase of the work begins.

Categories UncategorizedTags Civic Engagement, E2020, Wesleyan University

Promoting the ‘Virtuous Contagion’ of Civic Engagement

April 9, 2020April 9, 2020 by Michael S. Roth '78

Although the conditions for stimulating civic engagement have changed, the importance of making informed choices in determining the country’s political leadership has rarely been clearer. We won’t be knocking on doors in the immediate future, but there are many other ways to get involved. Wesleyan continues to support #E2020, and we need the energy of students, faculty and staff to make this work! I recently wrote about this subject for Inside Higher Education. 

 

In recent days, I was looking for a break from reading about COVID-19, and what did I stumble upon? Articles about the disappointing turnout of young voters in the Democratic primaries thus far. In the United States, ever since 18-year-olds got the vote in 1972, people between 18 and 29 have voted in smaller numbers than other age groups.

Part of the reason for this, apparently, is that it takes time to adjust to any public activity. Voting is a habit that develops from being part of a community, and it takes a while to get it going, especially when you are just entering adulthood and pulling together an independent life.

Reading about voting, like reading about anything these days, brought me back to ideas of contagion, isolation and interaction. Maybe the failure to vote is like the widely reported failure of younger people to self-isolate; they don’t feel they belong to the community that’s at risk. We are now asking for immediate feelings of communal connection when we ask people to stay away from one another. These preventive measures are encouraged to protect some of the most vulnerable: the aging, people with underlying and chronic health issues, the economically disadvantaged. But have we encouraged connectivity of young people with these groups?

The term being used for these measures is “social isolation.” A grim term indeed, but, as Nicholas Christakis has said, we should really be speaking of “physical isolation.” After all, we can remain safely isolated from one another physically while staying socially connected. Via our ubiquitous technological networks, we can have a virtuous social and political contagion even as we avoid malignant physical contagion by keeping six feet apart.

And maybe it’s virtuous contagion that we need to stimulate participation in the vital 2020 elections. Given the current administration’s penchant for voter suppression and the very real problem we would face if people had to come out to vote during an epidemic, one can easily imagine attempts to use the fear of contamination to make it more difficult to cast ballots. This would especially be the case in urban areas where voting happens in crowded places.

The best way to attack cynicism, apathy or voter suppression is through authentic civic engagement between elections. One of the great things about this kind of engagement is that it is contagious. As we replicate efforts to bring people into the political process, we create habits of engagement and participation. Concern for the public sphere — like a virus — can spread. Usually this happens through face-to-face interaction, but now we must turn to virtual tools — notorious in recent years for being deployed to misinform or stir hatred — to strengthen networks for democracy.

At Wesleyan University, we’ve begun a project called Engage 2020 that aims to bring more students into the public sphere to increase their civic preparedness and broaden their liberal learning. The next eight months offer a crucial opportunity for civic participation and liberal education through engagement with the public sphere. With the launch of the E2020 initiative, we provided a number of pathways for student skill and leadership development via direct participation in civic life. On a nonpartisan basis, we offered mini-internships linked with classes, funded student work to increase voter participation and awarded small grants to students to travel to areas where political races were of particular concern.

Of course, circumstances have now changed. We no longer want to encourage travel or to contribute — directly or indirectly — to the kinds of rallies characteristic of political campaigns. Still, there are other ways for colleges and universities to encourage meaningful civic engagement — and to make that engagement contagious.

We can support our students (through internships or virtual fieldwork classes for credit) in helping other people find out how they can register to vote or in working on campaigns, all from home — plugging into virtual networks that allow “knocking on doors” from computer to computer, from phone to phone. Working with organizations like Campus Compact or Civic Nation, MyFaithVotes or Let America Vote, the Chamber of Commerce or the League of Women Voters, students can connect with large numbers of people through networks that don’t require travel, or even hand shaking!

Although some of the commentary on the difficulty of Senator Bernie Sanders’s campaign focuses on the failure to increase turnout among 20-somethings, it’s important to note that many thousands of college students across the country are already stepping up to their political responsibility. In our E2020 initiative, we’ve invited several other colleges and universities with strong civic engagement programs to join us in embracing the educational value of political participation. More than 75 quickly signed up — from large community colleges to small liberal arts colleges, from HBCUs and Christian colleges to large, secular research universities. They recognize that civic engagement is good for students, for their institutions and for the country.

This is an anxious time, a time when we have to stay away from our neighbors, our fellow citizens, in order to protect ourselves and the greater good. In circumstances like these, some social networks break down, and we see their disintegration in examples of hoarding, price gouging and general selfishness masquerading as independence. But we also see other social networks coming alive as neighbors look out for one another — providing food, medicine, even communal serenading.

This is also a crucial time for American democracy, an inflection point that will determine the direction of the country and of the world’s environment for many years to come. Colleges and universities have a duty to pay attention to the physical health of their constituents while also attending to the civic health of the nation. By promoting a virtuous contagion of thoughtful, networked civic engagement, our institutions can prove once again that we can respond to dire challenges and make a potent contribution to the public good.

 

Categories UncategorizedTags Civic Engagement, civic preparedness, E2020, Inside Higher Education, Vote, Wesleyan University
Michael S. Roth

Michael S. Roth became Wesleyan University's 16th president on July 1, 2007.

We welcome comments from readers, but reserve the right not to publish certain comments, such as those that are anonymous or appear to be spam.

Follow @mroth78 on Twitter

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 20 hours ago

Read @MattReedAKDN "examples of solidarity and solutions give the lie to the pessimistic view of polarised politics incapable of pragmatism and practical action" #PracticalIdealism akf.org.uk/cooperation-an…

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 2 days ago

Next week, we study The Golden Calf section on Book of Exodus

test Twitter Media - Next week, we study The Golden Calf section on Book of Exodus https://t.co/JWk4IEsoqz
The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 2 days ago

Great to see ⁦@CHCMasselli⁩ vaccine site featured in @NYTimes “In addition to its mass sites, CHC, which serves large numbers of poor and uninsured people in clinics around the state, is also planning to send small mobile teams into neighborhoods” nytimes.com/2021/02/28/hea…

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 2 days ago

How ⁦@DouthatNYT⁩ loves the aroma of decadence “The stink of failure hangs over the liberal and cosmopolitan as well the populist and provincial, the “cuomosexual” parts of the media as well the conservative” Symptom or Diagnosis? via @NYTOpinion nytimes.com/2021/02/27/opi…

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 2 days ago

Brilliant ⁦@radhikajones⁩ review on #Ishiguro — memory, narrative and humanness via ⁦@nytimesbooks⁩ nytimes.com/2021/02/23/boo…

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 2 days ago

Read Becca Rothfeld "What I’m saying is that hating, however eloquent, is only half the battle. That it is so often cast as the whole of the enterprise is the fault of a warped incentive structure." spectator.co.uk/article/savage… via @spectator

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 3 days ago

In 19th century #Nostalgia thought to be a fatal disease. @clayroutledge thinks "the modern tools of behavioral science" tell us its good for us. Lucky us! Progress or nostalgia? wsj.com/articles/remem… via @WSJ

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 3 days ago

How I love this film -- Cafe Casablanca, "You Must Remember This" twitter.com/LostInFilm/sta…

«You give me a great desire to love» pic.twitter.com/prV1M8tclN

— Lost In Film (@LostInFilm) February 27, 2021
The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 3 days ago

Lola at the lake, snowy morning

test Twitter Media - Lola at the lake, snowy morning https://t.co/3AVt9MFBNQ
The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 3 days ago

Read ⁦@parul_sehgal⁩ on the history of NYTBR “How can one cover — let alone judge — what one refuses to see? What one is institutionally mandated to ignore?” via ⁦@nytimesbooks⁩ nytimes.com/2021/02/26/boo…

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 4 days ago

Elite colleges could,without making..changes to.. admissions standards,help a large number of talented children from low-income families..they could displace a number of affluent students who wouldn’t..be harmed by ending up at less selective institutions chronicle.com/article/what-w…

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 4 days ago

I still say that all the time! twitter.com/MattReedAKDN/s…

One of mine is from @mroth78 who said to me as a graduate student, after I had done nothing but criticise that week’s text: “But what did you learn from it?”

— Matt Reed (@MattReedAKDN) February 26, 2021
The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 4 days ago

My beloved teacher Carl Schorske to me as a frosh: “Mr. Roth, you have an awkward, wooden style. Get help with your writing!” twitter.com/artcrimeprof/s…

Does anyone else have something a teacher said burned into their brain? Mine is when I answered a question in a seminar my first semester of grad school and the professor responded, “Ah, Thompson. Quick but wrong, as usual.”

— Erin L. Thompson (@artcrimeprof) February 25, 2021
The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 4 days ago

"Not entirely unwatchable," @aoscott on film whose songs "dwell in a sonic uncanny valley, and also in an aesthetic gray area. They don’t sound bad, but they lack both the audacity of reinvention and the humility of imitation." #RealCriticism nytimes.com/2021/02/25/mov…

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 4 days ago

History of the present ⁦@jbouie⁩ “a rich history of resistance against the twin forces of race hierarchy &class exploitation..a more just and equitable future may well depend on how much we take those histories to heart and build on them” @nytopinion nytimes.com/2021/02/26/opi…

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 4 days ago

Read ⁦@michelleinbklyn⁩ quote ⁦@sandylocks⁩ “The commitment to free speech seems to dissipate when the people who are being gagged are folks who are demanding racial justice” via @NYTOpinion nytimes.com/2021/02/26/opi…

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 5 days ago

Still wondering why folks love reading about this 2018 incident on today's front page. Is it a "tale" of a false racial bias claim or of a reporter's selection bias? Talk to any black students? Any current students at all? @smithcollege @powellnyt nytimes.com/2021/02/24/us/…

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 5 days ago

Read @Milbank on double standards washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…

The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 6 days ago

Tonight at 6:00 p.m. @wesleyan_u Black Feminist Ecologies

test Twitter Media - Tonight at 6:00 p.m. @wesleyan_u Black Feminist Ecologies https://t.co/IVG7L5iM4B
The profile image of mroth78
Michael S Roth 6 days ago

Good discussion today of forgiveness & virtue in #Aquinas @wesleyan_u "reason is more perfect to the degree that it is more capable of subduing or bearing the weaknesses of the body & the lower parts"

Pages

  • About

Archives

Click here for an RSS feed

Login

  • Log in
© Wesleyan University