Meredith College 2024 Summer Reading Program to Focus on Student Citizenship 

Meredith College’s 2024 Summer Reading Program theme is “Strong Voices: Empowering Student Citizenship.”

The program will be built around a central text, The Bill of Obligations by Richard Haass, which offers a straightforward and clear discussion of basic expectations for American citizenship.

The book was chosen to help demystify the democratic process for students and encourage them to take action to improve and uphold democracy. 

SRP committee member Elise Rammalaere, ’25, believes the book will resonate with students.

“A lot of students are either sick of or not interested in talking about the presidential election. However, The Bill of Obligations isn’t about the presidential election; it’s about us,” Rammalaere said. “This book does a fantastic job discussing key aspects of civility that I am excited to share with incoming first-year students. I hope to have good conversations surrounding our ability to make noticeable change on campus and within our community.”

The book is just one part of the focus on student citizenship. A website with supplementary materials in various formats will be available to encourage students to engage with the topic in different ways. 

“We’re excited to provide resources and have conversations about how to be an engaged citizen not only of the United States but also of all the communities we are a part of,” said SRP Committee Co-Chair Chrissie Bumgardner.  

Students will meet in small groups in September to discuss the book and related materials. 

The SRP committee plans to promote civic engagement throughout the fall semester and invites departments across campus to contribute events and activities related to the theme. 

“We look forward to helping our campus find ways to engage with the democratic process and contribute to making our community even stronger,” said SRP Committee Co-Chair Ashley Hogan.

Meredith’s Summer Reading Program enhances the academic climate on campus by engaging incoming first-year students in a shared intellectual endeavor with the entire campus community, including students, faculty, staff, and alumnae.