Pizza, Pop, and Politics: What the 1960s Voter Education Project Can Teach Us Today

Allison Mitchell, assistant professor of civil rights studies in the Department of Africana Studies and the Department of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame, will speak at the first Pizza, Pop and Politics event of the spring 2026 semester.

Mitchell’s presentation is titled, “Bigger than the Ballot: What the Voter Education Project Can Teach Us Today.”

Voter registration and education programs are essential to the democratic process. Yet, history teaches us that this work has always gone beyond creating access to the ballot. Starting in 1962, led by civil rights organizations, the federally funded Voter Education Project (VEP) resulted in the registration of hundreds of thousands of Black voters in the South. Members of the VEP did more than register voters. They built community, empowered local people, and recognized that political influence did not start or end with the vote. Their efforts continue to serve as a model and example of how voter registration work can be a gateway to political and social change.

Pizza, Pop and Politics is hosted by the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights and ND Votes, a nonpartisan initiative that aims to foster conscientious engagement in political and civic life among students. The student-led initiative’s activities include promoting voter education, registration, and mobilization.

Dinner will be provided. All are welcome.

Originally published at klau.nd.edu.