Educating for Democracy
The mission of the James Madison Center for Civic Engagement is to educate and inspire people to address public issues and cultivate a just and inclusive democracy. As a nonpartisan entity, JMU Civic emphasizes the acquisition of knowledge to make one a more informed participant in our democracy, skills to make one a more effective participant, and values that embrace pluralism, open-mindedness, empathy, respect, diversity, and inclusion.
What JMU Civic Does:
- We build year-round voter education and engagement initiatives with students, faculty, and staff.
- We integrate civic learning opportunities in courses and academic programs with faculty and departments across campus.
- We provide resources for students to learn about and discuss public issues in an academic environment and to develop and implement plans for informed participation in civic life.
- We collaborate with JMU's Center for Assessment & Research Students to assess campus-wide civic learning
- We work alongside the community, state, and national partners on civic learning initiatives and events.
Your contribution today to the James Madison Center for Civic Engagement can fund the following:
- $25 – Pop-up “Tent Talks” where students can approach conversations on challenging and complex issues in a respectful, educational, and constructive manner.
- $100 – Student participation in state and national civic engagement conferences to present their work and learn from others around the country.
- $500 – Traveling Town Hall with candidates from across the political spectrum to advance civic learning on campus.
- $1,000 – Two-day Arc of Citizenship experiential learning tour from James Madison’s Montpelier to Harrisonburg to learn about the history and the ongoing struggle for freedom, rights and social justice, and the contributions to American democracy that social movements around these struggles have made.
- $2,500 – An undergraduate Democracy Fellow and their civic engagement work for one academic year or a Faculty Fellow integrating civic learning in curriculum.
- $10,000 – Reaching full participation in elections through education and programming across the campus experience.
James Madison Center for Civic Engagement
Provide general support for the James Madison Center for Civic Engagement, a nonpartisan entity that works in partnership with JMU students, faculty, staff and with community, state and national partners to support civic learning and democratic engagement.