Imagine a room full of college students from different political backgrounds debating policy issues and crafting their own proposals. Now, imagine officials in state capitols and congressmen in Washington, D.C., taking these proposals seriously. This might sound like a fantasy, but Kate Brandt '07 and Justine McGowan '08 are working to give Brown students an opportunity to put their ideas to use.
This semester the pair began a campus chapter of the Roosevelt Institution, a national organization started at Stanford University. Roosevelt was founded after last year's presidential election to increase student participation in politics through the creation of public policy think tanks on college campuses. Joining forces with like-minded students at Yale University, the founders drew inspiration from the progressive policies of presidents Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt. The organization currently has more than 120 chapters across the nation.
Brandt and McGowan hope the Roosevelt Institution will stand out from Brown's other political organizations in its attempt to be neither left-leaning nor right-leaning, but forward-thinking.
Brandt first heard about the organization while interning in Washington over the summer. She said her work there opened her eyes to the partisanship of modern politics, which made her receptive to the message of outreach workers from the Roosevelt Institution. "Once I found out about it, I couldn't believe it wasn't at Brown," Brandt said.
McGowan began speaking to representatives from the Institution last year but couldn't make a commitment at the time, she said. During the summer she attended a national Roosevelt conference that once again piqued her interest in the organization. She e-mailed Brown students who she thought might be interested in starting a chapter on campus and eventually teamed up with Brandt.
The Roosevelt Institution is "an organization very well suited to Brown because it's about empowering students," Brandt said.
The final variable in the equation was already present at Brown: the Brown Policy Review, an online publication of student policy papers started last February by Michael Ruderman '07. According to Brandt, the Roosevelt Institution approached Ruder-man after he created the Review. The Institution was working on its own policy publication, the first issue of which was released in October. Though Ruderman declined at the time, Brandt said he came to her when he heard that she wanted to start a Brown chapter of the organization and agreed to work with her and McGowan.
The Review is divided into several sections, including health, education and environmental policy and students submit policy papers on these topics written for a variety of classes.
According to McGowan, the goal is to turn each section of the Review into a forum where students can meet to discuss issues, perform research and create their own policies. She added that the group would also help inexperienced students learn to write policy papers. "I think that's the beauty of the organization - you don't have to be a political science major," she said.
McGowan said that once the publication is in print, it will be distributed on campus and to Rhode Island politicians to "allow student voices to be taken increasingly seriously in the policy process." The Brown chapter has a unique opportunity to affect state policy because Rhode Island is a small state and lawmakers are often open to student suggestions, she said. The best pieces from the Review will be sent to the Roosevelt Review, the Institution's national publication, she added.
The Brown chapter also hopes to work with other local colleges, Brandt said. The University of Rhode Island already has a chapter, and McGowan said she has been in contact with several student groups at Providence College that may be interested in starting a chapter there. She added that the Brown chapter must reach out to other Rhode Island schools in order to be taken seriously by local politicians, who she said see students at URI and PC as "their own."
McGowan said that the group has spoken with the Brown Democrats and College Republicans to get them involved. McGowan said it is important to involve both sides in order to maintain the organization's non-partisan status. "We see it as a strength," McGowan said, because both sides recognize the need for change.
The group is planning a Nov. 14 launch event "to introduce the Roosevelt Institution to the community," Brandt said. Students will present papers they have written on teacher certification, health care and the U.S. economy. The event will also include a panel discussion featuring Mayor David Cicilline '83 and two other local policy makers.
McGowan is optimistic about the Roosevelt Institu-tion's prospects. She said the organization is well known among progressive, activist students. Attending national Roosevelt conferences left an especially strong impression on her. "I met these students who blew me away. I just thought, 'I'm in a room with future leaders,' " she said.
However, Brandt said that some critics have wondered if students are qualified to provide policy proposals. But Brandt disagrees, saying that students are surrounded by brilliant professors at top-notch research institutions and, even more importantly, are divorced from the partisanship of Washington. Brandt also dismissed another criticism - that the group is unlikely to have an impact on the policy community. "It's happening and it's happening fast," she said.
