From April 23 to April 25, Rutgers Democracy Lab convened nearly 100 scholars, practitioners, and students to map the changing landscape of civic education and chart a path towards renewing democracy amid growing distrust, disillusionment, and disengagement.
On April 23, 2026, the Rutgers Democracy Lab hosted a campus-wide democracy showcase, bringing together more than 300 members of the Rutgers community to learn about the Lab’s civic opportunities and impact.
Throughout the month of April, Rutgers Democracy Lab supported more than a dozen events and workshops across the university that engaged thousands of students, faculty, and local community members to better understand complex, adaptive problems facing our democracy—and work towards solving them.
In an op-ed for NJ.com, Rutgers Democracy Lab inaugural Director Nicholas V. Longo comments on the growth of university-based civic thought and dialogue initiatives across the United States, arguing that Rutgers Democracy Lab is a model example of how campuses can cultivate civil discourse through structured, student-led dialogue and civic programming.
In an op-ed for Times Higher Education, Nicholas V. Longo, the inaugural director of the Rutgers Democracy Lab, argues that universities need to provide opportunities for “civic mobility"—the process of cultivating students' civic muscles through applied civic dialogue, civic studies and civic engagement.
Elizabeth Matto, the Executive Director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics and Rutgers University Research Professor, recently published an op-ed in the New Jersey School Boards Association April 2026 issue of New Jersey Lawyer.