Warren Wilson to Explore, Critique Democracy with Grant-Funded Democracy in Action Initiative
Ryleigh Johnson | April 28, 2026
A paper with the word ‘vote’ written on it at Pew Learning Center and Ellison Library at Warren Wilson College, on Jan 28, 2026 in Swannanoa, N.C. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)
On March 23, 2026, Warren Wilson College (WWC) president Damián J. Fernández announced a new “college-wide initiative” called Democracy in Action (DIA), funded by an anonymous gift of $500,000. The college hopes that this initiative, while still in the planning stages, will “explore citizenship, civic responsibility, and the principles of democratic life.”
DIA will be directed by a committee of students, faculty, and staff, including Associate Provost Carol Howard and Special Assistant to the President for Grants and Innovation David Gliem. Dr. Susan Ortiz, an associate professor of sociology at WWC, is a leader for the initiative, and is currently helping to determine what shape programming funded by the grant will take.
“It's kind of tackling philosophical, ideological, political ideas about democracy and even questioning the very term,” Ortiz said. “We want to open up discussions about where we see [democracy] happening and where it's not. How can we improve upon it? Is democracy the right term to use for this? Because it can, in many cases, be a term that is sticky; tricky to define.”
One idea that Ortiz and other committee members are excited about is a school-wide reading group, set to begin in the fall of 2026. Ortiz is thinking that the first book will be “Democracy May Not Exist, But We'll Miss It When It's Gone” by Astra Taylor, which she is in the process of reading now.
Jay Char, a junior on the Social and Cultural Sciences Crew that Ortiz supervises who is currently working on DIA, thinks that this reading group, and the initiative generally, will be a good way to build unity across campus.
“I think that it'll unite the campus community a lot more than it is now,” Char said. “It feels very clique-ish, and I think that having something like this, where everyone has something they can relate to and talk about with each other, is going to be really good for us.”
Char also mentioned the committee’s goal of integrating DIA into the first-year experience at WWC through First Year Seminars, paving the way for civic engagement to be established as an essential part of student life.
When first approached by Ortiz regarding interest in participating in DIA, Char was hesitant. But as he has worked with Ortiz, he has begun to see possible positive outcomes from the initiative.
“If we have people doing things where they're thinking about democracy, they're thinking about how they can get involved in their community in a political way from the start of their first year of college to the end, then they're going to come into the world being politically minded individuals who can then change the shape of the country, ideally,” Char said. “That's very idealistic, but I think that laying groundwork like that is important if we want to have a population of people who eventually do act politically and act civically and care about their community in that way.”
This sentiment is shared by incoming provost Brian Norman, who has been involved in planning some aspects of the initiative.
“This is a moment of crisis in American democracy as we experience profound polarization, disenfranchisement of specific groups, increasing income inequality [and] a general cynicism that our democratic institutions might be stretched or failing us at this time, especially among newer generations,” Norman said. “It seems like this might be an opportunity for us to meet that mission moment and remember what it means to be a civic institution, an institution with a responsibility to our surrounding community.”
Other ideas floated by Ortiz and members of the committee have included bringing speakers onto campus, hosting workshops for faculty and staff and hiring a political scientist, as WWC’s political science and history department was dissolved during the 2023/2024 academic year.
“I don't feel like this is a sociology thing,” Ortiz said. “We're trying to bring people from all walks of life on campus. We are absolutely saying we need a political scientist. That's a priority, and we're pushing for a full time, extended contract position...I think that is vital to have that expert here.”
Despite the passion from committee members, Char acknowledges that some WWC students may not feel interested in or excited about DIA.
“Democracy has failed us and as a trans person in particular, I feel pretty failed by democracy,” Char said. “The reason why I have forced myself to shift my perspective on it is because I want a world where democracy actually does what it's supposed to and is a way for everyone to feel that their voice is being heard. That sounds beautiful to me. Democracy has not gotten a lot of great press lately, so I would love to see that change.”
WWC community members can look forward to more information about DIA in the upcoming fall semester, when the committee will be finalizing plans for the community read and potentially looking for more student input. Ortiz hopes to connect with democratic institutions already established on campus, like the Student Government Association, to try to include as many voices at WWC as possible.
“What we want to work on is having it eventually feel like [DIA] was already here, and something we did all along,” Ortiz said. “[We want people to feel like] it isn't a new initiative that feels exhausting and goes nowhere, that it does become something that impacts people's lives in a positive way.”