Apply for the Patman Political Engagement Project 2024!
The Hart Leadership Program is accepting applications for the Patman Political Engagement Project (PEP). Jointly administered by Hart and POLIS: A Center for Politics, the…
PEP is a program open to students in their junior year, regardless of major, who are interested in political leadership, broadly defined.
The Patman Political Engagement Project (PEP) is a collaboration between the Hart Leadership Program and POLIS: Center for Politics. PEP is designed to inspire, cultivate, and prepare future leaders in democracy and provide them pathways to meaningful participation, contributing to more diverse and inclusive political representation at all levels in the United States. PEP is open to all Duke undergraduates in their junior year who are interested in political leadership, broadly defined. However, the program has a special interest in supporting students from communities who have historically been disenfranchised from or underrepresented in formal political power. POLIS and HLP will work collaboratively to nurture the Patman Fellows’ political and leadership abilities through engagement with guest speakers and participation in training and mentoring activities centered on running for political office or building careers in public policy.
PEP is supported by a generous gift from the Carrin M. Patman Fund. Patman was a long-time activist for political reform and inclusive political practices in Texas. She successfully lobbied for a law requiring political parties to publicly disseminate their participation rules prior to making decisions. On the national level, she led the fight against winner-take-all presidential primaries at the 1976 Democratic National Convention. Patman was an advocate for political engagement, and multiple members of her immediate family served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Texas legislature.
Before Patman fellows have access to their summer stipend, they must satisfactorily complete the PEP gateway course in the spring of their junior year, which directly engages questions of political leadership and structural barriers to political participation. This course is limited to Patman fellows. The 2024 gateway course is:
PEP fellows will be awarded a $3000 stipend for use in the summer between junior and senior year. These funds can be applied to either a summer internship or to research for an honors thesis.
Students write two “letters home” during their summer experience in which they reflect on their work and its implications for their own future political engagement. Each letter is read and responded to by a Hart faculty member.
Students present their summer work at the Hart Leadership Program's Public Purpose Symposium in the fall semester.
The Hart Leadership Program is accepting applications for the Patman Political Engagement Project (PEP). Jointly administered by Hart and POLIS: A Center for Politics, the…
2023 Patman Political Engagement Project (PEP) Fellow and 2022 Service Opportunities in Leadership (SOL) Fellow Khilan Walker is featured in Duke Today’s summer writing initiative,…
The Hart Leadership Program is excited to announce our Patman Political Engagement Project (PEP) fellows’ summer work. As part of the PEP experience, PEP fellows…
Former PEP fellow, Jeremy Carballo Pineda (PPS ’22) published an interview with Grammy-nominated musician and former Durham Councilman, Pierce Freelon. In the article, published by…