Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service

The Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service at Catawba College is dedicated to enriching civic dialogue, deepening understanding, and fostering engagement within North Carolina. Through non-partisan initiatives, the Center promotes the ideals of public service, civic character and engagement, and informed citizenship across the state.

By educating the Catawba community and fellow North Carolinians about the state's political dynamics and emphasizing the value of public service, the Center cultivates practical political understanding and encourages active civic participation. In doing so, it helps instill a lasting respect for public life and being a responsible citizen—both among Catawba College students and throughout the wider North Carolina community.

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Democracies run on fact-based information—the raw material societies use to identify problems and create solutions. The Center informs rather than prescribes, providing objective, data-driven insights into North Carolina politics. By collecting, analyzing, and presenting political information, the Center empowers citizens to engage in productive, evidence-based dialogue.

Additionally, the Center promotes public service as a meaningful and impactful path—whether in government or the nonprofit sector—encouraging students and citizens alike to contribute to the state’s self-governance.

In advancing civic understanding, engagement, and character, the Center supports Catawba College’s mission of “Scholarship with Character and Culture for Service,” preparing students to be thoughtful, responsible citizens.

Started in August 2024, Catawba College’s Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service has partnered with YouGov to conduct public opinion surveys of the state’s political attitudes and opinions.

Resources

Featured Events

Be sure to mark your calendars!

Constitution Day / Library 100th Event

SEP

Catawba College’s Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service and the Corriher-Linn-Black Library celebrated U.S. Constitution Day along with the 100th anniversary of the library’s participation in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) on Wednesday, September 17.

Special guests included former North Carolina Chief Justice Cheri Beasley and Former N.C. Associate Justice Bob Orr, along with assistant professor of politics Dr. Allyson Yankle, who discussed the importance of the governing document to our democracy and what North Carolinians think of the U.S. Constitution through an exclusive Catawba-YouGov poll.

A dessert reception celebrating Corriher-Linn-Black library’s 100th anniversary in the FDLP followed in the Frances Decker Wentz Reading Room where a few historical Federal documents were on display.

WATCH VIDEO

Lunch & Learn Webinar: Tim Heaphy

OCT

Catawba College's Center for N.C. Politics & Public Service, in conjunction with the N.C. Network for Fair, Safe & Secure Elections, will host a Lunch & Learn with Tim Heaphy on October 1st at 11:45 a.m.

Heaphy worked on investigating both the Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally and the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, two events he chronicles in his 2024 book, "Harbingers: What January 6 and Charlottesville Reveal About Rising Threats to American Democracy."

With continued concerns about political violence, Heaphy will give his perspectives and insights into where does the nation go in addressing political violence.

Guest Speaker: Patrick Brown

OCT

Join us on Thursday, October 16th at 11:30 a.m. in Keppel Auditorium for a special event with guest speaker Patrick Brown, who is profiled in Black Earth, our 2025 Common Summer Reading. Brown is the owner of Brown Family Farms & Produce, located in the northeastern Piedmont region of North Carolina. In 2021, Brown also became the owner of Oakley Grove Plantation, where his ancestors were once enslaved. The plantation purchase is part of Brown’s “commitment to building sovereignty for his family and community,” but it is not the whole story. Brown pioneers regenerative agricultural practices and advocates for policies that will benefit Black farmers like him, working to create an agricultural system that is profitable, sustainable, and equitable.