Rooted in the belief that a healthy democracy requires an informed and engaged citizenry, the Menard Family Center for Democracy at Miami University supports community-focused programming, engaged teaching, and research. The Center’s promotion of openness and democratic theory builds the capacity of students, citizens, and communities to collaborate across social divides to build toward a more prosperous country. We talked to 2024 Miami graduate Cameron Tiefenthaler about her experience in the program.
CKF: What did you choose Miami, and how did you hear about Menard Family Center for Democracy?
Tiefenthaler: I was a double major in political science and business analytics. I’ve been interested in politics, law, and striving to be a warrior for change for years, so I had my eyes set on political science. I also wanted to have options if I decided not to go to law school, so I added on the business analytics major to learn how we can use data to create a better society.
I found out about the Center because I kept hearing Dr. Forren’s name. [Dr. John Forren is the program’s executive director.] I was doing work for Miami’s Wilks Institute for Leadership and Service and people kept telling me about him, so I asked to meet. We had a great first conversation, and he asked if I’d like to get involved.
CKF: That’s wonderful. Before we talk more about the Center, what drove that “warrior for change” impulse? How did you become interested in politics, civic health, and the idea of using data for good?
Tiefenthaler: My mom was always politically active and ran for office, but the 2016 election was important for me. I was in high school and was so mad I couldn’t vote myself. I joined my peers in phone-banking, canvassing, and writing postcards back then, as I’ve continued to do today. Just seeing how the world responded, it was a pivotal time to realize my voice matters, my vote matters, and I need to help ensure other people who want to vote are able to do so. And that’s what has been a through line for me for the past 10 years — focusing on civic engagement, voter outreach, and get out the vote efforts.
CKF: No wonder the Center for Democracy was attractive to you!
Tiefenthaler: Yes, the Center supports several events, research, and service activities at Miami to help enhance openness, civic dialogue, and engagement. It’s a way outside the classroom to better understand what’s going on in the political world and specific policies. The Center facilitates conversations and makes sure Miami has really interesting, high-profile speakers who are able to lend their thoughts to the conversation. One of the events the Center supports is the JANUS Forum, which brings together a prominent Democrat and Republican to debate.
As the president of JANUS Forum for two years, I helped publicize events and brainstorm for speakers and topics. We touched on everything from the future of higher education to campaign finance and cryptocurrency. I, like others, didn’t know much about crypto before, and now I know what Bitcoin is and a little bit about the arguments for and against regulation.
CKF: There is so much going on in the world today, and colleges and universities are wrestling questions about free speech and openness on campus. Can you articulate why a program like the Center for Democracy is so important at this moment in time?
Tiefenthaler: It’s so vital to learn how to have civil discourse, especially with people you disagree with in a time where selective exposure is pretty easy. My Instagram algorithm knows exactly what my political beliefs are, and it feeds me what I want to see. That can be comforting, but it’s also scary to be in an echo chamber. Making sure we have the systems in place on college campuses, and in all parts of society, really, where you are exposed to ideas that are different than your own is really important to ensuring we are critically thinking through issues. We also need to know we can sit down and have conversations about difficult topics even if we dislike what the other person is saying. As with JANUS Forum, it’s vital for students to see a Democrat and a Republican wholeheartedly disagree in a respectful way.
CKF: What other opportunities did you have because of the Center?
Tiefenthaler: Dr. Forren also connected me to Jeff Hartman, a Miami alum who is running a nonprofit in London called Ukrainian Action that’s providing humanitarian aid. It’s an all-volunteer organization run by people who have full-time jobs. With support from the Center, I went to London for a few weeks with five other Miami students. We helped Jeff research how other nonprofits deliver relief in other countries at war. We analyzed strategies like how they recruited volunteers and how they organized their supplies. We also helped Jeff create a slide deck for possible funders. Basically, we provided a bit of extra manpower to this startup nonprofit.
Dr. Forren also helped me with my Truman Scholarship application [the Truman Scholarship is a highly competitive, merit-based award for U.S. citizens who plan to go to graduate school in preparation for a career in government] which I received last year as the scholar from Ohio. He also helped fund a research project of mine with the Prosecution Project where I presented in Wales this past summer at the Terrorism and Social Media conference. My research was on political violence and the use of crowd-sourced policing to identify defendants in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. Center students were also supposed to go to the Iowa Caucus this past January, but our trip was cancelled because of a major snowstorm.
CKF: Did the program give you the chance to talk to students or professors you would not have encountered otherwise? If so, what were the benefits of this exposure?
Tiefenthaler: Yes, and it’s been incredibly cool to share spaces with people who are also interested in this work and that I maybe wouldn’t have crossed paths with otherwise. The Center has been a great way to build community with people outside of my immediate circle. It’s also been a way to have the funds and access to explore more of my interests in political violence and civic engagement by attending conferences, functions, and programs I could not have without the Center.
CKF: CKF’s mission is to empower individuals to live lives of meaning. Do you think the Center for Democracy advances that goal?
Tiefenthaler: One hundred percent. I think to live a meaningful life, you have to feel you have agency not only to improve your own circumstances, but to help those around you. Being involved in politics is a great way to do that — to feel that, yes, I have a say in who governs me. The Center helps students understand they have that power. It also brings policy topics to life. Because of the Center, students get to hear preeminent scholars debating life and death on the stage. The programming makes political topics so much more interesting and engaging and makes you think, “Oh yeah, this is something that I want to pick up another book on and learn more about because I hadn’t heard that perspective before.”
It’s really valuable to know, especially in our highly polarized environment, that I can talk to someone who has different political views, and we can both leave unscathed and better people because we have a clearer understanding of one another.
