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| Students discuss vision, strategy at first Roosevelt Institution National ConferenceHyde Park, NY — September 4, 2005 — The Roosevelt Institution, the nation’s first student think tank, hosted its first annual conference August 11th and 12th at the Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home in Hyde Park, New York. Eighty students involved in the Roosevelt Institution from across the country met eachother face-to-face, shared ideas on how to run chapters and policy centers, collaborated on national organizing, presented policy work, and brainstormed about the future of the organization. The conference was the first major gathering of Roosevelt Institution administrators and fellows since the organization was founded in the fall of 2004. Since then, Roosevelt has expanded rapidly. Over one hundred schools now have chapters in development. The conference included students from twenty-eight of those chapters, representing twelve states, the District of Columbia, and one foreign country. The energy and excitement of the conference was contagious. David Rubenstein, the founder of the Roosevelt Institution chapter at Northwestern University, explained the reason for his involvement: “What excites me about Roosevelt is something I think a lot of students can relate to: that I think a lot about these issues and I talk a lot about these issues and I even write a lot about these issues, but I always feel like we are all impotent to do anything about it. And I finally see in this the opportunity to counteract that impotence.” The Roosevelt Institution is dedicated to bringing student ideas into the policy process, and that mission was at the forefront of the conference. In addition to sessions focused on building an effective administration and support system for students interested in translating their academic work into policy proposals, Roosevelt Institution Fellows presented work they have already completed. Friday’s lunch featured a presentation by six of the authors selected for publication in the upcoming Roosevelt Review. The Roosevelt Review is the Roosevelt Institution’s national policy journal featuring the best student policy work from across the country. It is now available on the web and slated for distribution later this month, but the conference hosted an early peek at pieces on ANWR, solar energy, AIDS in South Africa, and the military’s use of depleted uranium. Students attended the conference with a direct eye on the future of the country: “I think that without multi-generational activity and creativity in our democracy,” Alison Ramer, head of the Lesley College chapter observed, “we won’t have a living democracy. It takes the wisdom of older people, and the ideas, the inspiration, the ingenuity of younger people to create something that we can move forward with. So I think that’s something that’s really been missing, and [that] Roosevelt gives young people the opportunity to join our democracy in that way.” The conference date was chosen to coincide with the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute’s major celebration of Social Security’s 70th Anniversary, which took place on August 13th. Quinn Wilhelmi, executive director of the Roosevelt Institution, spoke at the afternoon program on the need for bold new policy ideas. Through the generosity of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, a new generation of policymakers gathered on the anniversary of one of the country’s greatest policy initiatives. The Roosevelt Institution is a think tank devoted to bringing the policy research of college students to the attention of academia, media, and government.
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The Roosevelt Institution is a nonpartisan, nonprofit national think tank devoted to bringing students' policy ideas to the policy process. The opinions expressed on this site are exclusively those of its members. DC Headquarters: Roosevelt Institution / 2100 M St NW Suite 610 / Washington, DC 20037 || (202) 833-1359 |