Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service

The March 11th webinar, starting at 12 PM, will focus on the March 3rd Primary Election Results and a look ahead with two keen observers of North Carolina Politics. Dr. Andy Jackson of the John Locke Foundation and Professor Asher Hildebrand of Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy will discuss the March 3rd primary elections and look ahead to the campaign and November general election. Dr. Jackson will present the Civitas Partisan Index, an analysis of how legislative districts may perform in an election. We'll also discuss: the open-seat U.S. Senate contest, expected to be one of the most heavily fought over elections in the country this November; the aftermath of some divisive primaries at the state level; what the next nine months can bring to North Carolina towards November.

On Wednesday, April 8, beginning at 12 PM, we will host another Lunch & Learn Webinar on "Spot the Bot: How to spot fake accounts and sort fact from fiction in social media" with Torry Crass. As the former Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for NC and for the NC State Board of Elections, Torry will explain how to recognize fake accounts, foreign interference, and misinformation in various forms during this hour-long lunch and learn. He will focus on NC vulnerabilities, noting that our US Senate race will likely bring a lot of misleading campaign ads and interference over the summer, but will also look more broadly at threats and the tools the average person can use to recognize and avoid being manipulated by bots or even drawn into fraudulent schemes.

Hear from Dr. Susan Roberts of Davidson College & Dr. Chris Cooper of Western Carolina University as they join Dr. Michael Bitzer in this webinar to talk about the 2025 municipal elections in North Carolina, the upcoming 2026 mid-terms, and the new Catawba-YouGov Survey results!

On Thursday, October 16th, Catawba College hosted 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. 

Catawba College's Center for N.C. Politics & Public Service, in conjunction with the N.C. Network for Fair, Safe & Secure Elections, hosted a Lunch & Learn with Tim Heaphy entitled "Defending Democracy: Confronting Political Violence in the 21st Century" on October 1st. 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 shared his perspectives and insights into where does the nation go in addressing political violence.

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.