IDEAL CAMPUS
IDEAL CAMPUS helps students foster civil discourse and civic engagement in their high schools and universities. IDEAL Chapters host events, invite speakers, operate publications, and run community projects, all in an effort to change the way students think about politics and interact with each other. Though high school and college chapters have slightly different requirements, both are driven by the same guiding philosophy, and operate the same three branches (Blossom, Programming, and Community) explained below.
Current chapter officers: please login to either high school or college to view officer information, planning documents, and IDEAL Exclusive Info!
Want to start your own chapter? Click here!
Blossom is the chapter-run student publication and podcast. Each institution operates their own Blossom, and each Blossom is integral to the success of the chapter. Blossom writers are tasked with writing “Briefs” and “Perspective(s)” that help students prepare for IDEAL’s on-campus programming. They also have the freedom to explore there own opinions and publish thought-provoking commentary! Find your school’s Blossom on the campus homepages below!
Based on a unique model that includes a presentation with background information, a deep investigation into relevant literature, and engaging and thought provoking discussion, the INFO is the core of the IDEAL CAMPUS model.
In addition to the student-operated INFO, chapters also host professors, invite off-campus speakers, hold debates, and help run primary, presidential, congressional, and local election programming.
In upholding the values and the spirit of the IDEAL vision, each chapter has a civic responsibility to their larger community. While some chapters take on a different project each year – working with a local food kitchen, or volunteering at a local school – others host long-term projects like Hear&Now, run by our Johns Hopkins Chapter. The operating directive for every COMMUNITY program is simple: listen first.
CURRENT CHAPTERS
If you see a chapter at your school that you’d like to get involved in, or would like more info about how to bring IDEAL to your high school or college, please email info@idealtogether.org
HIGH SCHOOL
Kuna High School
Kuna, ID
McLean High School
McLean, VA
Niskayuna High School
Niskayuna, NY
University High School
Tucson, AZ
COLLEGE
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
George Washington University
Washington, D.C.
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
MIT
Cambridge, MA
Swarthmore College
Swartmore, PA
University North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, VA
What do our students have to say?
“The most direct way in which IDEAL has affected the campus was through its voting initiative, which brought in new voters and created an opening for students to become involved in discussions about the topics which they were to vote on. Additionally, our speakers (academics and journalists from campus and beyond) have helped to facilitate relationships between professors and students in a less formal academic setting, allowing more debate to occur. I believe that IDEAL has helped this campus think more critically and intellectually about the world around it, and will continue to do so through its continued work.”
“IDEAL has helped create a space for active, civil discussion of politics and society on campus. But among the many political groups at any college or university - and what has become clear to me at IDEAL-hosted debate parties and smaller voting registration drives alike - IDEAL is unique in its ability to provide such a space in a way that is both truly nonpartisan yet deeply dedicated to fostering the sense of empowered citizenship that comes from knowing what is going on, why it matters, and how to affect it.”
