Dear Howard University Community, 

With the highly anticipated 2024 presidential election taking place just under a year from now, groundbreaking political figure Michael Steele, the 2023-2024 Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy, is excited to host two conversations around the importance of people getting involved in the electoral process.

On Tuesday, November 14 from 6-8 p.m., the King Endowed Chair in Public Policy will feature Donna Brazile who will speak in a discussion titled “How to Win Elections and Lose the Country” as Brazile and Steele are the first African Americans to chair the nation’s top political parties. Steele made history when he was appointed chair of the Republican National Committee in 2009. Brazile was first named acting chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2012 and served as interim chair from July 2016 to February 2017. She previously held Steele’s position as the University’s King Chair in 2018.

A renowned political strategist, Steele and Brazile will speak about the passion and verbosity that have long been associated with politics, from name-calling to bad-mouthing political opponents. But the current trends of the political process gone too far, so much so that they may be impacting the state of our union?

On Thursday, November 16 from 6-8 p.m., the King Endowed Chair in Public Policy will feature former U.S. Representative Denver Riggleman who will speak to the importance of voters seeking the facts in “January 6: Why Elections Matter and What Happens When Citizens Believe They Don’t.” This lecture will take place in the Founders Library Browsing Room with a reception to follow.

In this conversation, Steele and Riggleman will talk about the role elections play in creating a firm foundation for democracy and how money, politicization of electoral instructions, negative campaigning and disinformation have gone a long way in undermining democratic principles of equality, transparency, and representation that threatened the peaceful transfer of power.

Established in 2008, The King Endowed Chair in Public Policy provides students access to experienced, senior public service executives who have developed and advanced public policy initiatives. The King Chair has brought some of the nation’s prominent thought leaders on government and public policy to the campus community. Previous chairs include Brazile, former president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Elaine R. Jones, former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James B. Comey, and the late U.S. Congressman Elijah Cummings. 

In Truth and Service,

The Office of University Communications