A group of politically-driven students brought to Tufts this semester a chapter of the Roosevelt Institute, a completely student-led think tank, with the goal of giving students a greater voice in national political issues.
The Roosevelt Institute, named in honor of the three progressive leaders Franklin, Theodore and Eleanor Roosevelt, is made up of a national network of university branches aimed at bringing students to the center of critical policy issues.
The new Tufts chapter's efforts are in line with the Institute's "Think Impact" strategy, according to sophomore Sigourney Norman, co-president and policy director of Tufts' new branch.
"We want students to own their ideas and to do more than just go door-to-door, but to combine that with the brainpower that we have, take ownership and make relationships in the community," Norman said.
Sophomore Julie Kalt, co-president and administrative director, believes that the institute creates a forum for students from diverse backgrounds to share ideas. She said that the institute is comprised of more than just politically driven liberal arts students.
"It's progressive and really capitalizes on student ideas," Kalt said. "It brings access to kids who aren't politically active."
The institute's focus is "promoting [students'] ideas and empowering them to take an active role in the process," Kurston Cook, the Roosevelt Institute's national field director, told the Daily.
"The Institute is a process more than having an end goal," Cook said. "It isn't a single-issue based campaign. It is ensuring that progressive change happens consistently and that youth are consistently at the tail when decisions are being made about policy issues."
The Tufts chapter will focus on guiding Tufts students in policy creation, which Norman identified as a unique opportunity for students.
"We're trying to reach out to student groups to let them know that we are a policy resource for them," she said. "If there is an issue on how to write a policy or how to get it published, we will try to pair their topic of interest with people that work in the community."
Norman said that what she thinks is most important about the Roosevelt Institute is the opportunity for students to get their policies published; students can publish op-eds, policy papers, blogs and journals on the Roosevelt Institute's Web site. Kalt said she hopes the Tufts branch will be "a policy outlet to help groups further their goals."
A group of liberal students at Stanford and Yale University started the think tank after the 2004 presidential election, according to Cook.
"This group of students … [was] frustrated with how the electoral process went and felt that they had something to contribute other than manpower and that young people should get a greater say in their government," Cook said.
Kalt brought the Roosevelt Institute to Tufts after an alumnus, a former president of the Tufts Democrats, approached her with the idea of heading up a Tufts branch.
Kalt, a former member of the Tufts Democrats, said she felt the group's reach lacking.
"It was a lot of door knocking, canvassing, campaigning for the Democratic platform and agendas," she said. "I wanted to do something where it wasn't representing another person's agenda."
Unlike most other groups on campus, the Roosevelt Institute is not strictly liberal. "We are a nonpartisan nonprofit by definition, but we have a strong progressive value set and think that the government should do more for the greatest number of people," Cook said. "If a Republican senator comes out with something about environmental protection that we agree with, we value ideology over partisanship."
Norman echoed this idea. "It's about trying to come up with what is an improvement on a policy, not any particular idea," she said. "Any and all students of any political affiliation or background are welcome. We want to have diverse political opinions and backgrounds so that we will be able to write the best solution."
Kalt encouraged students interested in all fields, from science to political science, to get involved in the Roosevelt Institute.
"If you're into biology you can do something with biology, if you're into engineering you can write a policy on that," Kalt said.
