The Wesleyan community is in no way lacking active and well informed students. The student body recognizes injustices and problems that concern our world today. But, as Wesleyan students, we understand that merely recognizing these social ills is not sufficient; instead, we are engaged in our community on and off campus, domestically and internationally. Utilizing tools such as awareness campaigns, weekly meetings, film screenings and speakers, we have begun to make the change we hope to see in the world. But there is one other step that many Wesleyan students never consider when working toward the goals of their causes: public policy.
Public policy is a mechanism that allows citizens to affect change on a greater and more systematic level. Policy is the long-term, institutionalized approach to solving the problems that you work toward fixing on a daily basis.
But policy is not just a more concrete contribution to activism. It is also an academic endeavor and a future occupation for those dedicated to a specific field. The skills learned in higher education such as critical thinking, analytical writing, research abilities and public speaking are all large parts of effective policy-making. Such tools are critical to becoming an adept legislator, but are only truly effective when combined with the capacity and expertise to recognize the problems in a given community.
Whether your interests lie in international defense and diplomacy, or homelessness in your hometown, activism, academia, and public policy are undoubtedly intertwined. When combined, these fields can create an immense social impact. For this reason, there is a Public Policy Workshop highlighting the skills you need to write and implement public policy. Roosevelt Institute and the Housing and Hunger Program hope that, through learning these skills, we, as a student body, will be able to use this new tool in class, out of class, and in our respective future endeavors.
Please join us November 13th, 11am-3pm in Russell House for the first annual Affecting our Community: A Public Policy Workshop.
Blume is a member of the class of 2011, and Haley Baron is a member of the class of 2012.
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