“Whose democracy is it? It’s ours.  Let’s get started,” says DemocracyU, a new initiative of the American Commonwealth Partnership (ACP), whose new blog is hosted on the CIRCLE website.

A broad national alliance, ACP brings together higher education, k-12 schools and educational groups, the White House Office of Public Engagement, the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the Department of Education.

DemocracyU is an effort of the ACP to deepen the civic identity of educational institutions by promoting national discussions and collaborative projects.

“American students are making a difference. And in the process they’re beginning to co-create the kind of higher education they need and want for the 21st century,” DemocracyU states.  “Young agents of change are transforming their campuses into places where they can organize, engage, and inspire fellow students and citizens to build a stronger democracy. They’re creating the lasting change we need by bridging differences of partisanship, culture, faith and income to solve real problems in their communities.”

Tisch College’s CIRCLE (The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement)is the leading source of authoritative research on civic and political engagement of Americans between the ages of 15 and 25.

Originally published May 2012