Civil Dialogue and Free Expression on College Campuses
This student-led conversation will bring together student leaders from several universities that are affiliated with BridgeUSA. BridgeUSA is a national organization focused on improving the state of political education and discussion. It originated at Notre Dame in 2017 and now is represented in 20 states at universities across the country. The event will discuss trends in politics on college campuses—including levels of polarization, self-censorship, and ideological diversity—and ways to improve the state of discourse.
View the Event
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Featured Speakers:
- Greg Miller is a junior at the University of Notre Dame studying Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics and Economics with a minor in Constitutional Studies. He is Co-President of BridgeND and Co-Founder of the Student Policy Network.
- Emily Garcia is currently a junior at Arizona State University studying Politics and the Economy with a certificate in Russian and East European Studies. She serves as BridgeUSA’s National Director of Youth Development.
- Ross Irwin is currently BridgeUSA’s Chief Operation Officer.
- Jane Wang, co- founder of BridgeEmory, a branch of BridgeUSA
- Riya Shah is the BridgeUSA Director of National Engagement and serves on Student Government at the University of Notre Dame.
Meet the Moderator
Greg Miller is a junior at the University of Notre Dame studying Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics and Economics with a minor in Constitutional Studies. He is Co-President of BridgeND and Co-Founder of the Student Policy Network, which provides students with the opportunity to do real-world public policy projects with partner organizations.
Meet the Panelists
Emily Garcia is currently a junior at Arizona State University studying Politics and the Economy with a certificate in Russian and East European Studies. She serves as BridgeUSA’s National Director of Youth Development and works to equip high school students with tools and skills that allow them to become leaders in college and help them understand the importance of being civically engaged. Emily is also the Chapter President of BridgeUSA at Arizona State.
Ross Irwin graduated from UC Berkeley in May of 2020 with a degree in Business Administration. He currently lives in San Francisco working on BridgeUSA with a group of colleagues full-time. Ross works as BridgeUSA’s Chief Operation Officer, handling chapter expansion and ensuring that they receive the same quality advice and support across the board. This year he is focused on creating community and conversation on campus as many students are faced with uncertainty, stress, and loneliness.
Jane Wang is a third-year history major at Emory University. After a sensitive campus incident related to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, she and a friend founded BridgeEmory as a branch of BridgeUSA. In addition, Jane has interned at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a nonprofit focused on protecting free speech and due process in higher education. Today, Jane also leads Emory’s Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Activists (APIDAA) and teaches a course titled Bias and Truth in the Classroom—two more platforms in which she tries to expand open political dialogue.
Riya Shah is the BridgeUSA Director of National Engagement and serves on Student Government at the University of Notre Dame. She is a sophomore Hesburgh-Yusko Scholar from Louisville, Kentucky, studying Finance, Political Science, and Constitutional Studies. She is also on the executive boards of both BridgeND and College Democrats.
Study Shows Social Media an Effective Tool for Predicting Voting Outcomes
Presented by Office of Public Affairs and Communications
A new study reveals social media may highlight intergroup polarization of voter opinion more adequately than traditional polls when predicting election outcomes.
Researchers at the University of Notre Dame studied Colombia’s national referendum vote and initial rejection of a peace agreement to understand the influence of polarization and public sentiment. They also looked at how social media could be used to better evaluate public opinion and how it might be leveraged to impact election outcomes.
Read more here.
Domer Dozen 2019 Honoree: Nicole Sganga ’15
Presented by Alumni Association
Nicole Sganga ’15 works as a reporter for CBS News covering the 2020 U.S. presidential election. She uses her reporting and storytelling skills to inform voters during an important campaign season. Sganga was one of the inaugural Domer Dozen honorees in 2019.