Wabash & RAND Collaboration, 2021-2022

Chase Breaux, Democracy Fellow, of Houston, Texas, is majoring in political science with a minor in Black studies. At Wabash, Breaux serves in various positions—such as co-president of ‘shOUT, alumni committee chairman for the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies, co-chair for the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and staff writer for the college’s student-run newspaper, The Bachelor—to contribute to a safer and more inclusive atmosphere on and off-campus.

See Chase Breaux's fall 2021 essay, "Using Safe and Brave Spaces to Bridge Divides," in Journal of Engaged Research

Mark Andrew Magnon Jr is from McAllen, Texas, planning to major in rhetoric with a minor in biology. Mark is a Senior Fellow for WDPD and a brother of the Phi Delta Theta Indiana Beta chapter at Wabash. He has also played an active role as a former mentor and student for the Wabash Liberal Arts Immersion Program (WLAIP). His past WDPD work at Wabash has focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Seth Kirkpatrick, Democracy Fellow, of Osceola, Indiana, is majoring in Political Science and Rhetoric, with a minor is Spanish. With WDPD, Kirkpatrick has most recently worked on a project regarding the history of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Wabash College. His efforts on this project included historical research into the College, research on rhetoric and deliberation, as well as DEI. He plays an active role in his childhood community of South Bend, most recently interning with the Parks and Recreation Department to work on projects such as fundraising for the department and making some of the more expensive attractions of the city more inclusive for all citizens.

Jonathan Silva, Democracy Fellow, of Calumet City, is majoring in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics with a minor in French. At Wabash College he is an advocate for the Hispanic voice to be active and is the president of the Hispanic organization La Alianza: Unidos por Sangre. He is also a member of the Diversity and Inclusion committee on campus and created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee in his fraternity. As a WDPD Democracy Fellow, he researches, collaborates, and facilitates conversation about race, diversity, and free speech.

Davionne Garrett, Senior Democracy Fellow, of Michigan City, Indiana, is a current Senior at Wabash College where he majors in Economics and minors in Political Science. He is the current Vice President of the student body at Wabash, where he utilizes his position to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion across campus. He is also an active member of the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies, which he utilizes in combination with WDPD and his position as Vice President to bring various groups on campus together to create connections and promote understanding of different perspectives and experiences.

Chase Breaux, Democracy Fellow, of Houston, Texas, is majoring in Political Science with a minor Black Studies. At Wabash, Breaux serves in various positions – such as Alumni Committee Chairman for the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies, Vice Chairman for the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and Staff Writer for the college’s student-run newspaper, The Bachelor – to contribute to a safer and more inclusive atmosphere on and off-campus.

Adam Brookman, Democracy Fellow, of Evansville, Indiana, is a junior German and History double major with a minor in Political Science. With WDPD, Brookman has worked on many projects with various topics. He has worked on projects involving housing development, diversity and inclusion, and gun violence. This summer, Brookman worked on a gun violence project in Evansville, Indiana, and created a comprehensive crime report on the issue.

Jonathan Silva, Democracy Fellow, of Calumet City, Illinois, is a Politics, Philosophy, and Economics major. At Wabash College he is an advocate for the Hispanic voice to be active, and is the president of the Hispanic organization La Alianza: Unidos por Sangre. He is also a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee on campus and created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee in his fraternity. As a WDPD Democracy Fellow he researches, collaborates, and facilitates conversation about race, diversity, and free speech.

Dr. Sara Drury, is an Associate Professor and Chair of Rhetoric, and since 2014, serves as the Director of Wabash Democracy and Public Discourse. Drury’s research and practice focus on the intersections of rhetoric and deliberative democracy, with particular attention to deliberative pedagogy, argumentation, and political communication. Her focus on fostering democracy through productive communication has led to projects with Indiana Humanities, the National Science Foundation, and the Kettering Foundation. Drury has been a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (2017-2018) and an Indiana Humanities Action Fellow (2019-2021). She received her B.A. summa cum laude from Boston College, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University.

Rhianna C. Rogers, Ph.D., is the inaugural director of the Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy, starting in August 2021. Rogers is an expert on cultural and ethnic studies, intercultural competencies and diversity education, cultural mediation, and virtual exchange programmatic development and implementation. Her approach centers on participatory action research and community engagement processes. Since joining RAND, Rogers has introduced new research approaches, events, and programming centering on the center’s three pillars: 1) methods and action (e.g., centering racial equity in NIH and Wallace Foundation grant proposals), 2) dialogue and change (e.g., Deep Learning and Deliberative Conversation series), and 3) policy leadership (e.g., Affiliates/Ambassadors program, Fellows program, and Research Associates program).