USI to screen "Gerrymandering" film, host discussion with Julia Vaughn as part of MPA Speaker Series

The University of Southern Indiana Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program will host Julia Vaughn, policy director for Common Cause Indiana, and screen the film Gerrymandering as part of the MPA Speaker Series at 5 p.m. Wednesday, October 19 in Kleymeyer Hall located in the lower level of the Liberal Arts Center on the USI Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

In her position, Vaughn lobbies the Indiana General Assembly and leads grassroots lobbying efforts on campaign finance reform, lobbying and legislative ethics reform, public records and open government, redistricting reform and election reform. In 2008 and 2012, Vaughn was the Project Director for the Common Cause Election Protection project in Indiana. The project focused on ensuring that all eligible voters would be able to vote, and have their vote counted.  The project targeted both student and minority voters in several Indiana cities, and culminated with 50 Voter Advocates deployed to more than 200 polling places on Election Day, where they provided assistance to both voters and poll workers. 

Gerrymandering, released in 2010, is a documentary by Jeff Reichert that discusses the political process of the same name where electoral districts are reconfigured in order to obtain a specific result.  After the screening, Vaughn will answer questions and lead a discussion on the topics raised by the film. Light refreshments will be provided.

The event is co-sponsored by the USI MPA Society, the Master of Arts in Communication Program, the Center for Social Justice Education and the USI College Democrats.

For more information, contact Dr. Matt Hanka, director of the MPA Program, at 812-461-5204 or at mjhanka@usi.edu.