In 1987, the year Jesse Unruh died, the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics was born at USC. Its mission: to equip Trojans to become active in the political realm.

Unruh was a 1948 graduate of USC, and represented the university’s neighborhood in the state legislature, but that doesn’t fully explain why there’s an institute here in his name. 

The explanation lies in Unruh’s own pragmatic political philosophy.

“Jesse Unruh thought that having politicians come to campus would enrich students’ civic and political life,” explains USC political scientist Ann Crigler. “He felt very strongly that good people needed to get involved in politics and government,” says Crigler, who stepped down as Unruh Institute director in 2005 to chair USC’s political science department. (The institute is currently run by interim director Janelle Wong.)

Unruh’s centrist beliefs remain central in today’s divisive political milieu, and the institute that bears his name maintains a broad, nonpartisan mandate. Recent guests have run the gamut from Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader to former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich. Last semester saw talks by California political leaders Tom McClintock, Steve Cooley and Robin Kramer; a teach-in on the Burmese democracy protests; and a panel discussion on Congolese gold-mining practices with officials from Human Rights Watch. In January, New York Times correspondent Elisabeth Bumiller discussed her new biography of Condoleezza Rice.

On an even more practical note, the Unruh Institute places more than 100 student interns a year in government and advocacy offices in Sacramento, Washington, D.C., and beyond. In line with Jesse Unruh’s lifelong championing of the poor, the institute also provides stipends and tuition support to outstanding student interns through a grant from the estate of Diana Chudacoff Levin.

As state and national political races heat up, the Unruh Institute sponsors political forums, often collaborating with student organizations, community groups and other universities. An example is the regular election post-mortems co-sponsored with the California Center for Education and Public Affairs. At these confabs, which attract national and even international attention, key campaign strategists reveal what happened behind the scenes.

After February’s early presidential primaries, the Unruh Institute is planning an election post-mortem that brings together journalists and political analysts from a variety of political persuasions. “We hope it will engage and inform the USC community, particularly students who may be voting in the upcoming elections for the very first time,” says Janelle Wong of the February 11 public event.

Later in the spring, the Unruh Institute will send students to a national campaign conference at Harvard University to study successful techniques for campus-based voter registration.

For the past 20 years, the Unruh Institute has actively engaged students in the political process, and more importantly, has challenged students to think about their role in the community, the country and the world. 

– Jeffrey Hubbard ’08

Jeffrey Hubbard is a senior political science/philosophy double major who works at the Unruh Institute. To learn more about the USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, go to http://college.usc.edu/unruh