IOP Readies For National Outreach

The student leaders of the Institute of Politics met last night to discuss the first steps of a National Campaign to unite the organization with the political institutes of 11 other schools across the country.

The joint venture will focus on strengthening each organization’s relationship with electoral politics, career development resources and initiatives for building a foundation in civic education.

According to Peter P. Buttigieg ’04, president of the IOP’s student advisory committee, “a crisis in youth political participation” is the prime motivator for uniting with other similar programs at other schools.

“There is a cycle of mutual neglect between the world of youth and the world of politics,” Buttitieg said.

To stop the cycle, the IOP intends to share experience and information with groups such as the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University and the Lowery Institute of Clark Atlanta University to create successful programs to encourage youth participation in politics.

“Our goal is to inspire young people in politics not just here at Harvard,” said IOP Director Dan Glickman.

“There is no place with the resources that we have,” Glickman added, though he insisted that the IOP’s role will be that of a facilitator and a partner. “There are things that other people do that might be helpful to us.”

“Our idea isn’t to set up little IOPs around the country,” Buttigieg said.

Instead, the IOP wants to expand some of it’s already successful programs, such as the civic education program run in association with the Phillips Brooks House Association, to other colleges and universities.

The National Campaign entails initiatives based at Harvard that may affect national political activism as well as projects created and executed in conjunction with the partner schools.

One concrete idea for the alliance is expanding to other schools the voter registration drives encountered during class registration at Harvard.

Other plans include an internship database and a website of prominent political issues.

On Oct. 10, there will be a meeting of faculty and students from the IOP’s partner institutions in order to brainstorm more potential projects.