On January 23, Assistant Director of Student Engagement Emilee Duffy and I welcomed First-Year Democracy Lab students back for our annual Welcome Back Dinner—a chance to pause, reconnect, and take stock of what this learning community has already built together.

Over dinner, students, faculty, and staff shared conversation and reflected on a semester shaped by shared courses, events, and projects. One highlight of the evening was a series of fast-paced “Ignite Talks,” where Profs. Philip Martin, Kelly Richter, Lucas Núñez, Catherine Maclean, and Meghan Garrity each took on the challenge of presenting their research in just five minutes, using 20 automatically advancing slides. The format is demanding, lively, and always a student favorite. And this year was no exception.

As my first year serving as director of the Democracy Lab, the evening felt especially meaningful. The dinner captured what makes the program work: intellectual curiosity, generosity across roles, and a strong sense of community that extends beyond the classroom. I’m excited to see where the rest of the year takes us.

For more information, see Emilee Duffy’s LinkedIn post here.