About Debating for Democracy
Debating for Democracy (D4D)™ is a distinctive campus-based co-curricular program that represents the mission of Project Pericles in action. On each campus, Periclean students research, develop, and advocate their opinions and positions on current public policy issues. Students will produce a co-written, two page letter to an elected official advocating for a legislative response to a current issue. The primary goal of D4D is to inspire and encourage all participants to become successful and resourceful advocates in their community. Out of the thirty Periclean institutions, five winning teams will be selected to receive $500 towards mobilizing on their issue back at their home college the following year!
Important DatesPolicy Proposal Letter Writing Workshop
October 29th, 2013 9:35am-10:50, location TBD RSVP by 10/22/13 to [email protected] The D4D On the Road Workshop/Fieldtrip November 16th 9am-5pm, Occidental College RSVP by 10/22/13 to [email protected] AND complete this registration form to attend. Initial Student Policy Proposal Letters Due - NO EXCEPTIONS December 2nd, 2013 by 3pm to [email protected] Finalist Student Proposal Letters with revisions Due - NO EXCEPTIONS January 30th 2014 by 3pm to [email protected] |
Program SummaryELIGIBILITY: In order to be eligible to participate in the Letters to an Elected Official Competition, a student must
a) be a full-time undergraduate at one of the Periclean campuses; b) be a freshman, sophomore, or junior as defined by their college or university; and c) write and mail a letter to an elected official. Students selected to participate in the competition must be a freshman, sophomore, or junior during the Spring 2014 semester and be returning to their campus for the 2014-15 year. SELECTION PROCESS: Students must submit their letter to the Pitzer D4D Program Director (CEC's Tricia Morgan) by Monday, December 2, 2013. The Program Director in collaboration with the CEC Steering Committee will review each letter and select the four strongest letters to forward to Project Pericles. Finalists will have until January 30th, 2014 to make any recommended revisions before Pitzer's final submission to Project Pericles. Each college must email their package (in Word) of up to four letters to Jan Liss [email protected] by 5 pm EST on Wednesday, February 19. Please note you are welcome to set internal deadlines that are earlier if you have scheduling conflicts. The names of all of the students who worked on each letter must be sent to Project Pericles with the two students who played the leading roles in preparing each letter clearly identified. All letters should be mailed by the students to the appropriate elected official by February 19. A committee consisting of people with significant experience in public policy will review the submitted letters using the criteria below. Based on this review, Project Pericles staff will select the five winning teams. We will announce the five winning teams in early March. |