<turday, Sept. 22, 65 student activists from Carleton, St. Olaf, Macalester, and the Northfield and Faribault High Schools came together in the Great Hall for a full day of activism and advocacy training.
The Debating for Democracy (D4D) workshop was led by professional consultants from Soapbox Consulting and included a variety of activities designed to develop the skills of issue-analysis, effective one-on-one advocacy methods, and ways to bring awareness to an issue through media sources.
Participants came with a wide range of issues they were passionate about– everything from opposing the voter ID Amendment in November to reproductive rights to environmental policy to ESL policies at the local high school– and everyone benefited from the chance to improve their advocacy skills and exchange ideas with people from different backgrounds.
D4D is part of Project Pericles, a national organization whose goal is to promote participatory citizenship on the campuses of 29 colleges and universities around the country.