In 2005, the Gephardt Institute of Civic Engagement was created by Congressman Richard Gephardt with the goal of encouraging students to help support communities worldwide. This goal manifests itself in a number of ways, including Gephardt’s Civic Scholars Program, the Arts as Civic Engagement Program and the University-wide blood drives each semester.

The Gephardt Institute’s most recent community engagement project is called #ThisCivicMoment, aimed at inspiring Washington University community members to voice their “perspectives on the implications of the civic moments of our time including COVID-19, the Movement for Black Lives, 2020 Census, and 2020 National Elections,” according to the program’s web page.

Mia Goldberg | Student Life

#ThisCivicMoment is an online series open to submissions from anyone in the Washington University community, including students, faculty, alumni and staff. Submissions may come in a variety of creative forms of expression, from journalistic to academic to video or audio recordings. The program welcomes a variety of media that effectively communicate feelings about community and society as a whole. Each submission not only features the content but a list of reflection questions and additional readings that viewers can engage as well.

The project, however, isn’t designed to elicit 20-page stories or in-depth documentaries. Instead, contributors produce written work no longer than 350 words and audio recordings no longer than five minutes.

In this short amount of space, #ThisCivicMoment asks contributors to consider questions such as, “How will you act in this civic moment?”, “How will you respond to this civic moment?”, and “What are you committing to doing as a result of this civic moment?” While these prompts are aimed at those submitting their work, Dr. Jillian Martin, the Assistant Director for Strategy and Evaluation at the Gephardt Institute, hopes the entire Washington University community will consider these questions as well.

“We created #ThisCivicMoment for the campus community to engage in critical reflection about the civic issues of our time,” said Martin. “Just this year alone we have multiple moments—COVID-19, movement for Black lives, national election, and census—that will have significant implications for the future. As the next generation of leaders, influencers and scholars, students offer a unique voice in connecting current events with personal narratives, historical and journalistic perspectives, calls to action, creative expression, and academic essays. Most important, students can speak directly to other students and engage each other in the critical issues of our time.”

The Gephardt Institute has already started showcasing its submissions for #ThisCivicMoment, ranging from essays to videos. An undergraduate student majoring in political science and religious studies, Yohanes Mulat, wrote a poem about the struggle between protesting and staying safe from the coronavirus. Taylor Brown, a student at the Brown School of Social Work, wrote an essay titled, ”We are the Cure: How to Help Our Democracy Recover from the Pandemic.” A 2020 alumna, Charlyn Moss, submitted a poem and recited it for the Gephardt Instagram page.

“Gephardt Institute has so many programs [and] opportunities for student involvement,” said Brooke Bulmash, a Civic Scholar and senior majoring in Architecture. “In my opinion, it’s definitely a great resource for individuals [or groups] wanting to get involved with civic engagement and engage with the St. Louis community. My involvement with Gephardt has been enlightening [me] about civic and community issues and has definitely been my most meaningful involvement on campus.”

#ThisCivicMoment is accepting submissions on a rolling basis, and there is a form to nominate others to submit their work as well. The submission form can be found on the #ThisCivicMoment web page at gephardtinstitute.wustl.edu.