The Center for Cyclone Civics and Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics will co-sponsor events for America at 250, a national celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
“ISU is engaged in the national celebration of America at 250 and this will show that we are part of the conversation. The goal of the center is to promote civic literacy and civic knowledge, which is broadly understood to be American history and American government, so all of the events that we have are a part of the civic education mission,” Dr. Karen M. Kedrowski, Catt Center director and co-director of Center for Cyclone Civics, said.
The Catt Center works to inform people about the political process while recognizing women along the way. The Center for Cyclone Civics focuses on civic education and engagement.
“You can see it in the test scores, civic literacy is not as apparent as it used to be; there is now more of an emphasis on STEM,” Dr. Kelly Shaw, co-director of the Center for Cyclone Civics, said. “A lot of what we are doing at the Center of Cyclone Civics is raising awareness not only of the 250th anniversary, but we’re kind of philosophically asking some questions of how has the United States changed over the last 250 years.”
The centers have two upcoming events, both free to the public.
At 6 p.m. March 3 in Room 2630 of the Memorial Union, Kedrowski will present ‘Women in the American Founding,’ an address about the role American women have played in shaping the U.S.
“This presentation will tell the stories of some of the women – including Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Phillis Wheatley and Mary Wollstonecraft – who played crucial roles in the politics, economics and culture during the founding of the country, as well as provided direct support for the war effort during the American Revolution,” Kedrowski said.
At 6 p.m. March 4 in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union, journalist and author Elaine Weiss will present ‘Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools That Built the Civil Rights Movement,’ telling the story of how four activists and their allies worked together to create citizenship schools across the Jim Crow South.
The Board of Regents declared the Center for Cyclone Civics in April 2025.
“Being a center makes us eligible to do fundraising, programming, research and outreach,” Shaw said.
Their first speaker was Jeff Flake, a Republican senator from Arizona. Flake spoke on Constitution Day about congressional powers.
“The Center for Cyclone Civics is nonpartisan, but they have had people from both parties come and speak,” Shaw said. “They always try to balance partisanship. We are trying to pursue the middle ground at ISU. We do not force our ideas on students, but we empower students and help them develop the ability to do things themselves. We want students to decide for themselves when it comes to politics.”
To find more information on the Center for Cyclone Civics or the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, visit their webpages.
