Monday, November 20, 2017



Dear Professor,

I wanted to reach out to tell you about the national civic engagement award that PIRG Campus Action recently won!

The student PIRGs, a project of PIRG Campus, Action, was nominated for a national “Civvy” award for our work supporting voter registration and creating space for dialogue between student swith diverse perspectives.

The Civvys (The American Civic Collaboration Awards) are the first national awards program designed to highlight organizations and individuals hat leverage collaboration as a key strength in building initiatives that improve communities. You can learn more about this on their website.

PIRG Campus Action is hiring campus organizers to empower student leaders and win concrete results on public interest campaigns ranging from getting our campuses to 100% renewable energy, to saving students money on textbooks by promoting open educational resources.

If you have anyone in your department who you think would be a good fit for our positions , please let me know!

Megan Anderson

PIRG Campus Action Recruitment Director

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Engage Zine Submissions 11/17


“Engage” is a social justice Zine run through the Center for Intercultural and Civic Engagement. This semester they are focusing on history in Tacoma, specifically the relationship of the Puyallup Tribe with the City, Japanese Internment in the Seattle/Tacoma area, the Tacoma Method in 1885, and the Northwest Detention Center and the effect it had on Tacoma.

They are looking for submissions from students, faculty, and staff that somehow relate to any of these topics. Submissions can be anything from prose, poetry, visual arts, photographs, or anything else you may want to submit. Submissions are due by Friday, November 17th and should be sent to upsengage@gmail.com.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact the CICE representative Larissa Lief or Lucy Soderstrom.

Thursday, November 09, 2017

State Supreme Court Visits: Mon 11/13 and Tue 11/14



The Washington Supreme Court will visit our campus this coming Monday and Tuesday for its Traveling Court civic outreach initiative. The panel discussions planned for Monday on Freedom of Speech (2:00 pm) and Young People and the Law (3:30 pm), as well as the court cases on Tuesday.  These sessions are open to all.

Professor Seth Weinberger will moderate the panel discussions.

Here, as a reminder, is President Crawford’s recent message: 

Dear Members of the Campus Community:

On November 13 and 14 University of Puget Sound will host the Washington Supreme Court in support of the Court’s and Puget Sound’s mutual interest in fostering civic engagement and interest in our state's legal system. We are honored to have the justices here and I hope you will be able to participate in one or more of the sessions that comprise the visit.

On Monday, November 13, members of the court will participate in classroom sessions and then engage in two panel discussions at Schneebeck Concert Hall:

·         2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Free Speech and Activism, moderated by Seth Weinberger, professor of politics and government
·         3:30–4:30 p.m. Young People and the Law, moderated by Tiffany Davis, associate director of diversity and inclusion

These panel discussions are open to the public. Seating at Schneebeck Concert Hall will be on a first-come basis. 

On Monday, November 13, 5 – 6:30 p.m., in the Wheelock Student Center Rotunda, Puget Sound will host a reception for the justices, members of the Tacoma–Pierce County Bar Association and the Pierce County Minority Bar Association. Everyone is invited and I hope you will attend. Please let us know in advance whether you will attend the reception via this link. The favor of a reply by Nov. 7 is requested.

On Tuesday, November 14, in Schneebeck Concert Hall, the justices will hear oral arguments  in three cases and engage with members of the Puget Sound campus and the Tacoma community between sessions. Members of the community are invited to attend any or all of the sessions below: 
·         9:00 a.m. Kenneth Wright v. Lyft, Inc.
·         9:55 a.m. State of Washington v. Michael David Murray
·         10:35 a.m. Q&A
·         1:30 p.m. State of Washington v. Hollis Blockman
·         2:10 p.m. Q&A

The arguments will be carried statewide by public cable television TVW.  No registration is required.

The visit is a valuable opportunity to see justice in action, and I hope that you will be able to participate.

Sincerely,

Isiaah Crawford, Ph.D. | President

ASUPS Payton Head Lecture 11/16

ASUPS Lectures is incredibly honored to have Payton Head give a lecture in Killworth Chapel on Thursday November 16th at 8pm! The lecture is entitled, Moving America Forward in the Age of Trump. Payton is a recent graduate of the University of Missouri where he represented nearly 28,000 students as President of the student government. In the aftermath of Ferguson, he spearheaded conversations about improving race relations in Missouri. Head’s viral Facebook post detailing his experience with racism at Mizzou ignited the student body to fight for a more inclusive campus and shook up the world of higher education. This led to the #ConcernedStudent1950 movement, where campus protests resulted in the resignation of the chancellor and UM-System president in the historic fall of 2015. 

With the election of America’s newest president, divisions along the lines of politics and American identity as it relates to social justice have become more apparent now more than ever. Colleges and universities have a unique responsibility to foster a marketplace of different ideas and opinions. This lecture will provide student leaders who are passionate about social justice with proactive strategies in which to facilitate difficult dialogue with their communities on the importance of coming together to move America forward!

Make sure to check out more on the FaceBook Event here

Admission is free and open to the public. Thank you for your time! We hope to see you there! 

Monday, November 06, 2017

Professor Kessel participates in Civic Cocktail: City Hall in Motion & #MeToo


Alisa Kessel, politics and government, was a panelist for "Civic Cocktail: City Hall in Motion," which included a discussion addressing the significance of the #MeToo movement and navigating sexual harassment in the workplace and on campus. Other panelists included Seattle mayor Tim Burgess and former first lady of Washington Monica Locke. 

Watch the discussion on the Seattle Channel website

Friday, November 03, 2017