Dole Institute study groups coordinate with classes

Political discussion focuses on gender, race and religion this semester

By Jessica Wicks

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

For the first time, students can receive class credit for attending study groups at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics.

Nicole McCleskey, political researcher for Public Opinion Strategies, will speak today as the first in a series of political leaders and analysts who will lead the study groups this semester.

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The Dole Institute has arranged a union between KU classes and the study group that any professor can use as part of his or her curriculum. The initiative is an effort to increase student participation and form a relationship between the Institute and KU academics.

Jennifer Schmidt, senior fellow at the Dole Institute, said that the study group could become a second thought because students had so many obligations. If it is integrated into classes, Schmidt said, it would move from the list of things they want to do to things they have to do.

The study group has brought various influential speakers to the University, including “Good Morning America’s” Kate Snow, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and President Bill Clinton. The group lets students spend personal time with major political influences. Each semester, the group talks about a specific topic of importance on Capitol Hill.

This semester’s topic is gender, race and religion in politics.

“We are confronting these issues that we have never had to confront before, all three in the same presidential cycle,” Schmidt said.

Mary Banwart, an assistant professor of communication studies, designed her class around the study groups. The groups make politics come to life in a way that can’t be captured in a textbook, she said.

“The study group is super responsive to students,” Banwart said, adding that the continuation of her connection with the groups would be dependent on whether the students enjoyed it.

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“We are confronting these issues that we have never had to confront before, all three in the same presidential cycle.”

—Jennifer Schmidt, senior fellow at the Dole Institute

Schmidt said politics was something that you fell in love with. She said that when she went to Washington as a young adult, she was captured by the intellectual stimulation and history. She said this group helped bring that atmosphere to the University.

“It is not TV or a big audience,” Schmidt said. “Students really get the chance to sit down and talk with these people.”

McCleskey, today’s speaker and a former lead pollster for the Republican State Leadership Committee, will have a hands-on discussion about her experience in polling, mock trials and community attitude research at today’s study group.

Beka Romm, Bennington senior, said she originally came to the group for the free cookies but kept coming because the group engaged her in political discussions that students don’t normally get access to.

Romm, who got her job as the Dole Institute’s student outreach coordinator from one of the fellows at the institute, said the networking opportunities were incredible. She said the discussions were determined informally by the students, which made the speakers more approachable.

The study group is funded by the Dole Institute and is still open to all students and faculty.

— Edited by Katherine Loeck

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