CSU Fort Collins, CSU Pueblo and CSU Global are working with the Colorado State University System to launch an initiative called Your Voice. Your Vote. Your Rights.
The goals of the initiative are to encourage civic engagement, voting, and informed discourse in advance of the 2020 election, and to reinvigorate the understanding that higher education has a unique and important role to play in leading difficult and contentious conversations around critical societal issues.
Your Voice. Your Vote. Your Rights includes a website with information, essays, and resources around free speech, voting, and how to have conversations about complex ideas.
The initiative will continue through the end of December with monthly newsletters from CSU System Chancellor Tony Frank dedicated to these topics, along with monthly SOURCE special editions. The initiative also includes panels, stories and several guest essays written by the campus presidents, current and former faculty, alumni, legal counsel, students and others affiliated with CSU.
We hope through this initiative, readers can find their way to navigate through these contentious times with respect for each other and a commitment to making positive change.
To learn more about your rights and responsibilities related to free speech, peaceful assembly, civic engagement, and voting, visit csusystem.edu/free-speech.
Give thanks by lending an ear: Listening across difference as sun sets on 2020
As the nation heads toward Thanksgiving and other winter holidays, talking politics with that loud uncle at the socially distanced family gathering may cause some anxiety. read more
Local communities model for greater equity in civic engagement
While there is much more work to do, CSU and Fort Collins community members don’t have to look far for inspiration on how to approach the work with inclusion and intention. read more
Making a difference: CSU student activism over the decades
Student activism has played a significant role at Colorado State University over the decades, whether it was focused on national politics, civil rights, apartheid, recycling or social justice. read more
Higher education finance impacts from the 2020 election
Of the many ballot issues this year, the most impactful measures for higher education were Amendments B and 77, Proposition 116, and Proposition 118. read more
Looking for wins in a losing campaign
There are many ways to look for the small wins in a losing campaign. If time is spent in reflection, those important wins might be discovered and may change your life. read more
Video: ‘CSU Grads on the Political Frontlines’
Watch CSU alumni sharing their experiences working on the frontlines of America’s political arena as journalists, lobbyists and lawyers. read more
Voting on campus: A decades-long tradition
Take a look at the history of voting on campus from the passage of the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to the present day. read more
Capitol interns learn the power of respectful dialogue
CSU undergraduates are getting a chance to see the inner workings of state legislative politics through semester-long internships at the Capitol in Denver, and the experience can be literally life-changing. read more
Tony Frank: On how we talk to each other
Most Americans don’t like the way we talk to each other these days, but no one seems to know how to fix it. The Colorado State University System proposes that we start at the most obvious point: Let’s talk about it. read more
Us vs. them: The ‘wicked problem’ of how we talk to each other in 2020
Political polarization in an election year is nothing new. But in 2020, when you add to the mix deep divisions, it seems as if we’ve forgotten how to talk to each other about what is ailing society and how to fix it. read more
Activism in the era of COVID-19
CSU faculty weigh in on how the practices of activism have been altered during the pandemic, what changes might be here to stay, and how to get involved responsibly. read more
Teaching in Tense Times: Resources for academic freedom and an inclusive classroom environment
The College of Liberal Arts Fall 2020 Initiative team developed resources to support faculty as they approach the most important questions of the day while cultivating a classroom climate conducive to open inquiry and engaged learning for everyone. read more
Registration opens for panel discussion with CSU grads on the political frontlines
As part of the Your Voice. Your Vote. Your Rights. initiative to encourage civic engagement, voting and informed discourse, the Colorado State University System is hosting a virtual panel called “CSU Grads on the Political Frontlines” on Friday, Oct. 16. read more
For members of a university community: Take care of who you are
Beyond free speech: Why engaged inclusive discourse matters
Joyce McConnell is the president of Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
Understanding must be the new winning
Making positive change: Activism is who we are at CSU Pueblo
Timothy Mottet is president of Colorado State University Pueblo.
Moving forward together
Talking about how we talk to each other in the online space
Pamela Toney, MBA, is president of Colorado State University Global.
We need real social change, not ‘purified discourse’
Blanche Hughes is the Vice President for Student Affairs at CSU in Fort Collins.
The First Amendment in practice in higher education
Jannine Mohr is deputy general counsel for the CSU System.
A task not taken alone
Irene Vernon is the founding chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies at CSU in Fort Collins.
Getting ‘straight to the heart’
Ann Gill is the retired Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at CSU in Fort Collins.
Lory Student Center: Supporting a history of student engagement in our democracy
Michael Ellis is assistant vice president for Student Affairs and executive director of the Lory Student Center.
How to be seen and heard as a young person in America
Jalen Thompson is a first-year music education major at Colorado State University, and grew up in O’Fallon, Missouri.