Message from VP for External Relations Kelly Chezum on Using Your Voice as an Employee and as a Private Citizen – Tips on writing to elected officials
Does one letter, call or email with a recommendation from you to an elected representative make a difference?
Do ten letters, calls or emails with a similar viewpoint or call to action as yours make a difference?
What about 50 letters, calls or emails? 100? 1000? 5,100+ from a whole university ?
I posit that making a difference begins with one single letter, call or email to an elected official expressing a particular viewpoint that starts to educate him or her and/or influence an issue. And it’s amplified when you ask someone else to do the same.
When your single communication then gets counted with the communications coming in from the wider constituent base for a representative, it matters even more.
We are fortunate that our state and federal representatives do want to hear from the constituents who elected them and from those who are part of the colleges and university community in their districts, especially during times of crisis and on issues of consequence, such as those facing our black community now. Grassroots success is the show of concern from constituents who care.
In my portfolio as VP for Marketing & External Relations, I am the University’s day-to-day point of contact for our elected officials and government agency outreach, which comes with both opportunities to support our community, but also with some limitations that apply to me and all employees when we use university resources in government related activities.
In supporting our community during the last few months of the COVID-19 crisis, in my official capacity I have introduced local entrepreneurs and businesses to our elected representatives and their staff to hear directly from members of our greater community about how legislation and executive orders have impacted their livelihoods or if they were experiencing trouble accessing government services. This has been in addition to the University’s own lobbying efforts to support student education, financial aid and research as well as health and safety measures.
Right now, I am making the renewed introductions and sharing representative contact information for those individuals in our community who want to connect with elected officials to address the social injustice and violence members of our black community face. As a University, we are also connecting both on campus and with peers to further identify ways to ask our elected officials to help us strengthen our education, outreach and research to support our Black Community. Thursday’s Community Forum (tonight) will further that work.
As a tax-exempt institution, Clarkson must follow specific guidelines that limit the scope of activities that the institution and the institution’s employees may pursue – but only in their capacity as employees. For example, because Clarkson’s mission is education, the institution must exercise caution around the use of University resources in political processes and causes because actions that are politically partisan, rather than educational, are prohibited by law and could impact our ability to access state and federal funds.
This restriction on employee activity applies to any situation where an employee, explicitly or implicitly, represents the University as an employee of Clarkson, whether on behalf of a department, program, unit, or the University as an institution. It also includes any activity in which an observer of a public meeting or social media outlet might reasonably believe that the employee is acting on behalf of the University. In any such public activity, the Clarkson employee should self-identify at the event or discussion forum as an individual expressing her/his own political views and not those of the University or the views of official representatives of the University.
When communicating as an employee and/or as departments in University channels such as University social media, we must be cognizant that some organizations that we may highlight or use as examples may share our personal viewpoints and even some University stances, but they are political by their incorporation – they call for specific legislation to be enacted, the removal of politicians by name or party, or the support of political candidates running for office that runs contrary to our legislated limitations as a non-profit. We can’t use university resources to lobby for politicians running for office or groups/causes that are incorporated for political action versus other nonprofit designations.
I try to get beyond my own occasional frustrations at these limitations by seeing them as protection of our greater college and university communities’ need to be open places for students to learn how to bring truth to power and share their agreements and disagreements in an environment that promotes respect for differing opinions as a way to push beyond the status quo.
And more importantly, the limitations we have as employees do not mean we can not use our own voice as a private citizen. On issues like those we are facing today for the Black Community that matter to me, my friends and my family, I do so using my own personal gmail.com account and my personal phone number to our representatives.
Below are some tips to use your voice — and your experiences and expertise — in those communications to an elected official and be part of making a difference:
· Send a personal letter on your own personal stationery or email account – if someone sends you a form letter as a template, please take the time to make it your own. It will have more impact in your words and from the address you use as a voter.
· Remember that you are writing from the standpoint of a concerned citizen and/or informed professional. You can identify that you are a faculty member, staff or administrator with a professional experience or perspective to bring credibility to the message, but in so doing, please state that you are sharing your own viewpoints and not necessarily those of the university.
· Be direct and frank. Get to the point of why you are writing in the first paragraph. Legislative staff are likely going to read it first and this will help them sort your letter — yes, this happens. Expand your view in the remainder of the letter which you should try to keep to one page. Try to focus on no more than three bullets that would support your view. And don’t assume the reader knows the problem or issue the way you do — it is okay to state the obvious, i.e. targeted violence against the black community must stop.
If you want to talk more with me about this communication, I have open office hours on Zoom or drop me a line. Your voice is important in creating change.
Kelly Chezum
Vice President for Marketing & External Relations
kchezum@clarkson.edu
315-268-4483
Office hours: Tuesdays Noon to 12:30pm and Thursdays 1pm to 1:30pm; or by request