ENACT Spotlights
Across ENACT’s network of faculty fellows, professors nationwide are empowering students by bringing democratic practice into the classroom and beyond. Through courses grounded in real-world policy challenges, fellows engage undergraduates in state-level legislative work alongside lawmakers, staffers, and community organizations. Read more about their work and students below.ENACT Spotlights
January 26, 2026
ENACT Faculty Fellow Dan Lewis has been teaching his ENACT course “Citizen Lobbying and Advocacy” (POSC 210) at Siena University in New York since 2018. He writes that the positive impact of ENACT on his students extends beyond the classroom – and beyond the realm of government and policymaking. “The course not only allows students to connect with legislators and staff, it also gives them opportunities to connect with community organizers, policy advocates, and professional lobbyists,” he writes. “It also builds the soft skills necessary for nearly all careers: communication, networking, compromise and problem-solving.”
November 21, 2025
“ENACT connects classroom learning to active civic participation and prepares students to make an impact, beyond campus, on local and state policy and governance,” says ENACT Faculty Fellow Dr. Victor Eno, Associate Professor of Political Science at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University. “Teaching the ENACT module has strengthened research and civic engagement skills among my students. It has also helped me develop a deeper connection with students and mentor them toward meeting their career goals."
October 14, 2025
Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU) students in Faculty Fellow Zachary Baumann’s ENACT course “Lobbying and Policy Advocacy” (POLSC 2110) are engaging with a distinctive political system: Nebraska is the only state with a unicameral legislature, not a bicameral structure (typically a house of representatives and a senate), and it has the only nonpartisan legislature in the nation. Yet like ENACT students in the other 49 states, students can select issues they are passionate about and work with local policymakers and activists to drive change in the state.
“Since NWU is in Lincoln, the state capital, we have access to a diverse range of interest organizations, advocacy groups, policymakers, and individuals, making the ENACT model a perfect fit for this class,” said Prof. Baumann, Chair of the NWU Department of Political Science and Coordinator of the school’s Capitol Hill Internship Program. “This course is excellent because it draws students from multiple majors, allowing them to deepen their understanding of this unique system's operation and how to use it effectively.”
September 2, 2025
Prof. Lily Rowen, an ENACT Faculty Fellow, reflects on her experience teaching an ENACT course at Laramie County Community College in Wyoming, and how impactful the hands-on component of the ENACT model has been for her and her students.
March 3, 2025
In early February, ENACT Faculty Fellow Prof. Emily Wanless of Augustana University in South Dakota welcomed ENACT Your Vote Campus Student Engagement Fellow Yoni Kahn ’24 and ENACT Student Delegate Clay Napurano ’24 via Zoom to her course “State and Local Politics” (Government 301).
Kahn and Napurano shared reflections on their experiences as students in ENACT Director Melissa Stimell’s “Advocacy for Policy Change” course at Brandeis University, and offered advice to Prof. Wanless’ students on their first day of their ENACT course for Spring 2025.
February 26, 2025
For many college students these titles are opaque, the responsibilities of these roles are confusing, and the people serving in these roles seem inaccessible.
It is a different story for ENACT Faculty Fellow Brian Pugh’s Mississippi State University students. In his ENACT course “Community Service and Civic Transformation” they have been learning the ins and outs of the state legislative process, so that they can effectively engage directly in the democratic process. Recently, that learning extended to a visit to the Mississippi State Capitol. “Experiences like this help bring government to life in ways the classroom alone cannot” says Prof. Pugh. (Pictured: Mississippi House Education Committee Chairman Representative Rob Robertson addresses ENACT students).
“Visiting legislators at the Mississippi State Capitol provided an invaluable educational experience, offering firsthand insight into the workings of the state legislature. With a constitutionally weak Governor, Mississippi has one of the strongest legislatures in the country, and it is always a privilege when legislative leaders take time out of their busy schedules to speak with MSU students. In addition to meeting with lawmakers – such as the House and Senate Appropriations Chairmen – students had the opportunity to sit in on floor sessions and committee meetings. Observing these proceedings allowed students to witness state policy being debated and shaped in real-time, while also gaining a deeper appreciation for the context and civic importance of Mississippi’s legislative process. Experiences like this help bring government to life in ways the classroom alone cannot.” — Brian Pugh
December 3, 2024
ENACT supported nonpartisan voter registration and voter participation efforts at five campuses this year through the ENACT Your Vote initiative: Brandeis (in collaboration with VoteDeis), Siena College in New York, University of Hartford in Connecticut, University of Maine, and Utah State University.
At each campus ENACT Your Vote Campus Engagement Student Fellows worked to ensure students registered to vote and cast their ballots whether in person or absentee.
Read more about the ENACT Your Vote initiatives across universities.
June 26, 2025
The spring 2024 issue of Public Service Review (Volume 5, Issue 1) exclusively features ENACT.
Published by the Stennis Center for Public Service, a bipartisan legislative branch agency created by Congress in 1988 to promote and strengthen the highest ideals of public service in America, this journal is distributed to members of Congress, universities and colleges, and public servants in local, state, and federal government entities across the United States.
In this special issue:
- Brandeis alumni Elaina Pevide ’20, Vishni Samaraweera ’24 and Ravi Simon ’19 write about their experiences in ENACT Director Melissa Stimell’s Brandeis ENACT course “Advocacy for Policy Change” and the lessons they carry with them from ENACT.
- Randolph-Macon College student Wesley Gerschick writes about what he learned from advocating at the Virginia General Assembly as a student in Virginia Faculty Fellow Richard Meagher’s ENACT class.
- ENACT Assistant Director David Weinstein shares an overview of the ENACT program.
- ENACT Faculty Fellow Lynne Chandler-Garcia of the United States Air Force Academy shares her experience teaching an ENACT course, and the considerations involved in teaching about legislative advocacy at a military academy.
- Massachusetts State Senator Becca Rausch (Brandeis ’01) is interviewed by Brandeis ENACT students Dalia Moran ’24 and Arianna Jackson ’25 about her commitment to ENACT.
- ENACT Faculty Fellow Jennifer Seelig is interviewed by University of Utah ENACT student Tomas Cruz Villalvazo about her experience teaching an ENACT course.
- Maine State Representative Ambureen Rana is interviewed by Julian Ober, an alum of Faculty Fellow Rob Glover’s University of Maine ENACT course.
March 6, 2024
“Through their ENACT experiences in ‘Virginia Politics in Action’ my students learn one big lesson that everyone should learn: the barriers to civic participation are not always as high as we think. With some elbow grease – and maybe a little bravery – you can become an effective advocate and help influence the important decisions being made in our state government.
‘Virginia Politics in Action’ definitely involves action; my students get a crash course in state politics, legislative advocacy, and civic participation in just four weeks. There's no long buildup to a culminating experience. We're at the legislature on day two, and meeting legislators about our bill by week three. It's immediate gratification!
It’s exciting, both for me and for my students, to jump right in without too much of a net. And it works: the ENACT model is very well-suited for preparing students.”
February 26, 2024
Brandeis Stories featured "Advocacy for Policy Change" ENACT students Dalia Moran ’24 and Arianna Jackson ’25. They have been working together for Bill H.2209/S.1457, an Act promoting access to midwifery care and out-of-hospital birth options, and have connected with Massachusetts State Senator Becca Rausch ’01, who represents Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex districts.
December 1, 2023
“Most of my students come to the university with deep passions, idealism, creativity, and brilliance. Yet they are overwhelmed by the immensity of the societal challenges we face. This can easily lead to stagnation and cynicism at this crucial juncture in their education. What they often need – and this course facilitates – is process-based knowledge and a safe place to develop complex perspectives towards change.
‘Urban Public Policy,’ adapting the ENACT model, was built around the idea that we can intervene at this beautiful moment to support students to build skills, reflective processes, and a sense of solidarity to both imagine and design what change can look like; and that we can hold both idealism and realism in that crucial work.”
April 21, 2022
During the 2022 spring semester, Professor Adam Myers and students from his Public Analysis and Advocacy course visited Rhode Island State House. Students were able to meet and learn from State Rep. Rebecca Kislak as well as develop a greater understanding of public policy and advocacy at the state level. Professor Myers is part of the political science department at Providence College.
Gail Miller reflects on her experiences in Faculty Fellow Kathleen Cole's ENACT course in spring 2017.
"I had a rather limited understanding of politics and democratic institutions when I enrolled in the Advocacy for Policy Change course in spring 2017; and the extent of my political participation was voting every few years. Before taking this class, I was unaware that there are many other ways to communicate my preferences to elected officials. I believed if an election did not turn out the way I hoped, I was left to hope someone 'better' got elected next time.
"Since taking Advocacy for Policy Change, I have a much better understanding of how my state legislature functions, who the representatives are, how to access information about legislation important to me, and how to effectively communicate my preferences to the appropriate political actors. I also learned how to find local advocacy groups working on the issues I am interested in, which enabled me to build meaningful relationships with like-minded people, furthered my education on how to be an involved citizen, and further amplified my political voice."
Read more about Miller's perspective.