Joshua Ranney, '19
On Wednesday, April 17, the American Democracy Project, in conjunction with the Department of Communication, is hosting an “All Things Voting Day,” with keynote speaker and SUNY Fredonia alumnus Joshua Ranney.
Mr. Ranney will deliver the address, “From Campus to Career: Participating in Democracy,” in the Williams Center Multipurpose Room from 11:00 to 11:50 a.m.
The event is co-sponsored by the Faculty Student Association with support from the Carnahan Jackson Fund for the Humanities through the Fredonia College Foundation.
During his lecture, Mr. Ranney will reflect on how his time as a student at Fredonia prepared him to achieve his career goals. He’ll also discuss why students need to be democratically engaged and offer suggestions for why and how students can be involved in democracy beyond voting. After his address, Ranney will be available for informal conversation over lunch provided in the Multipurpose Room.
Ranney graduated from Fredonia in 2019 with majors in Journalism and Political Science. During his time on campus, he was involved in various organizations including Fredonia Radio Systems and The Leader, at which he served as the News Editor during his junior and senior years. He was also elected as President of the Student Association (SA) in his sophomore year, and continued to serve in various roles in SA throughout his college career.
After graduation, Ranney became Director of Communications for New York State Assemblymember Karen McMahon. In this role, Ranney handles all interactions with the media, prepares press releases, written statements, responds to constituent inquiries, manages social media, prepares public remarks, and works in cooperation with other staff in an advisory role. He has also served in this capacity on the assembly member’s two previous re-election campaigns.
The event will also feature a voter registration table and a place for students to sign up to be poll workers. Light refreshments will be served at 11 a.m. with lunch to follow at noon. Everyone is welcome to attend.
At 1 p.m., Ranney and members of campus clubs will host a panel discussion on democratic engagement. A second panel, at 2 p.m., will feature Ranney, Mock Trial, and people from campus media overviewing the role of the media in politics. The panel, with Dan Quagliana as moderator, will include student panelists Alexander Bucknam, Chloe Kowalyk and Rosie Rapisarda.
The American Democracy Project’s goal is to educate students to become engaged in civic issues through participatory democracy as well as to encourage students to become well-informed voters and to appreciate the impact of voter participation.
