KPU Finds Its Footing During Virtual Semester

by Olivia McCormack

In 2017, I sat nervously in a blue plastic seat in Bender Arena, hand gripping my crinkled WONK of the Year ticket, my second Subway sandwich of the day clunking in my stomach as I craned my neck to get a better view. 40 feet away from me was none other than Malala Yousafzai. She sat on a makeshift stage soothing Sylvia Burwell’s multiple attempts to get her younger brother to attend American University. This was my introduction to American University’s Kennedy Political Union (KPU): a room of captivated, slightly sweaty young adults hanging on every word of one of the most influential people of our generation.

A lot has changed since 2017, Kerwin Hall replaced The Ward Circle Building and KPU has a new leader. Amrutha Chatty took over the mantle as KPU Director at a time when students are scattered around the world. She’s been on KPU staff since 2017, but this year has introduced an unforeseen set of challenges brought on by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. KPU faces a new set of complications beyond booking venues, getting speakers, and figuring out what kind of Subway Sandwich John Kasich wants. Now they need to seize a population who has to spend hours a day staring at a Zoom screen and convince them to stay engaged for a few more moments. To do this KPU is trying to make this experience as personal as possible on online platforms.

“I think what we’ve tried to do is replicate as much of what happens in person online by allowing students to ask questions and keeping student organizations involved as early as possible-and really trying to replicate that same experience,” Chatty explains.

By involving student affinity groups and organizations, Chatty hopes to keep KPU’s finger on the pulse of the student body’s current needs. KPU continues to facilitate, “conversations [that] are directly about topics and things that the student body wants to hear about” by having questions created by student organizations as well as questions submitted by students on the Zoom Webinars.

In order to collaborate effectively with these affinity groups, KPU has introduced a new position: Deputy Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Chatty explained this role was created because, “It might’ve been easier for us to have a pulse on that if we were on campus, but we’re not, so we want to make sure we’re meeting with affinity organizations, hearing from them how we can best serve them.” This new position is filled by Sydney Diggs, who is ready to mold this position to what the AU community needs.

Diggs’ main role is to reach out to affinity groups on campus and assess how KPU can work best with them. Diggs describes her role as to “do outreach to [affinity groups] and ask then who they want to see on campus, what they think about the speaker that [KPU has] brought, any events that they want to be included in and basically then just listen to the ideas they have about who they want to see on campus.”

In the past KPU has only reached out to groups after speakers have been chosen to see if they want to collaborate on events, but this year KPU is taking a more proactive approach. Diggs has been sending out spreadsheets to affinity groups and asking them what specific speakers they want to bring to campus and why. While the fall semester is already pretty booked, Diggs is planning meetings with affinity groups later in the semester and early in the spring.

Gone are the days of long lines outside of Bender and of the excitement of seeing newsworthy individuals in the same room where you saw Clawed Z. Eagle almost fall on the basketball court last week. KPU knows this. “A big draw of KPU events is getting to see a speaker in person, and we don’t get to do that anymore,” Chatty notes, but that won’t stop their programming. In fact, it might even help.

“One advantage is the scope of speakers who we have access to has broadened so much,” she explains. This September alone KPU has hosted Angela Davis, Julián Castro and Noname. The ability to get speakers who live in further parts of the country dramatically impacts who can speak at KPU events. Angela Davis lives in California and it’s much easier for her to take a two hour zoom call rather than a 17 hour plane ride. 

Still, keeping students engaged is difficult. “There are so many more challenges in getting students to give us their time now because of the state of the world,” Chatty acknowledges. Nevertheless, she is ready for KPU to command a meaningful role in the AU virtual community. “KPU can play a multitude of roles in our virtual community. I think it can keep the role that it always has been in bringing politically relevant speakers to campus because that’s something that we’ve always done but I also think now, more than ever, it can really form as something that can unify students,” she states.

KPU is already starting to collaborate with underrepresented voices on campus. Their Black Lives Matter (BLM) series with the AU Women’s Initative (WI), Student Union Board, Black Caucus Committee and the Anti-Racist Research Policy Center have brought new faces into collaboration for Zoom events. “It’s been a really great way not just to unify students into having these conversations but also all the different organizations,” Chatty proclaims.

Next week KPU is hosting Dr. Fauci and PBS Newshour correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, with their Black Lives Matter series continuing throughout the semester. To stay updated, visit their Facebook page or their Campus Labs page.