The Sandra Day O'Connor Institute advances civic education, civil discourse, and civic engagement across the United States. Each month, The Citizen highlights our programs, events, and community impact. This July, we're reflecting on the civic lessons of a global summer, looking ahead to a historic evening honoring President Reagan and Justice O'Connor, and celebrating the community service of our High School Ambassadors. Explore what's happening in civics education this July.
What the World Cup Taught Us About Being Neighbors
Civics Lessons Beyond the Pitch
For five weeks this summer, the world came to America's doorstep. Sixteen cities across the United States, Mexico, and Canada opened their stadiums, streets, and spare bedrooms to 48 national teams and millions of visiting fans, breaking the all-time World Cup attendance record set in 1994, the last time the United States hosted.
As the tournament wrapped up, our newest blog post looked past the scoreline to something bigger: a genuine civics lesson playing out in real time in host cities from Kansas City to Los Angeles to Toronto. The unglamorous work of moving 80,000 fans in and out of a stadium turned out to be a case study in civic infrastructure. Strangers debating ranch dressing in a fan zone turned out to be practice in the most basic democratic skill there is, finding common ground with someone you just met. And a stadium full of people from a dozen countries, holding their breath together for a team that wasn't even theirs, turned out to be a reminder that shared experience, not shared opinion, is often what builds a sense of belonging to the same community.
Our latest blog also explores what visitors from Buenos Aires, Casablanca, Seoul, and dozens of other cities noticed about America that residents often overlook, and why holding both pride in a place and honesty about its problems is, itself, a civic skill worth practicing.
Save Your Seat: AI Is Shaping Public Life. Who Gets a Say?
Our Next Virtual Public Square | Thursday, August 13, at 10 AM PDT | 1 PM EDT
We hope you'll save a seat for our next Virtual Public Square. AI isn't an abstraction anymore. It's already sitting inside the systems that touch daily civic life, the classroom, the doctor's office, the DMV line, the job application, and the news feed. Most of us never got a vote on any of that. This conversation is about what it looks like to get one and how to bring that into our communities.
Join us Thursday, August 13 (10 AM PDT | 1 PM EDT) for AI Is Shaping Public Life. Who Gets a Say?, a live, virtual conversation exploring how artificial intelligence intersects with civic life, public trust, and citizen participation.
It isn't a debate about whether AI is good or bad; it's a practical look at how citizens can stay informed and engaged as the systems we all rely on keep changing shape.
It's free, it's online, and it's built for exactly the kind of respectful, cross-perspective dialogue the Public Square series is known for. Bring your questions; this one's designed for you.
O'Connor Institute Ambassadors: Spotlight on Service
High Schoolers, Your Service Could Earn You $500
The O'Connor Institute Ambassadors Civics & Debate Club is recognizing high school students who give back to their communities. Current and new O’Connor Institute Ambassadors in grades 9–12 (2026–27 school year) who complete community service between January 1 and September 30, 2026, and share their story are eligible for one of 25 Community Service Awards — $500 each — with winners announced December 1, 2026.
Whether it's cleaning up a local park, volunteering at a food bank, or supporting a cause close to home, we want to hear about it. Applying takes three simple steps: join the free, extracurricular, online Ambassadors Civics & Debate Club, share your community service story, and celebrate your impact when winners are announced this fall.
Not yet an O’Connor Institute Ambassador? Students can join for free, and it is open to any high school student ready to build civic leadership skills and knowledge alongside peers from across the country.
History Dinner Co-Chairs Visit the Reagan Library
Preparing for Dinner with Ronald Reagan & the 1980s
As planning continues for this year's Annual History Dinner, Dinner with Ronald Reagan & the 1980s, set for Saturday, November 14, at The Phoenician in Scottsdale, our Dinner Co-Chairs Nancy Hanley Eriksson and Ron Eriksson, and Christine and David Gustafson, traveled to Simi Valley, California, for a firsthand visit to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.
The visit gave our co-chairs a close-up look at the exhibits, artifacts, and archives that will help shape this year's tribute to President Reagan's presidency, his historic appointment of Sandra Day O'Connor to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the decade he helped define, from the economic reforms of "Reaganomics" to his pivotal role in ending the Cold War.
“We will never forget our time together at the Reagan Library & Museum and the chance to relive some of the defining events from his presidency,” Co-chair Christine Gustafson said. “We were particularly thrilled to see the Reagan Library’s Sandra Day O’Connor exhibit. This beautiful space shows the documents, photos, and memorabilia from President Reagan’s historic nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court.”
This year's Dinner carries special significance for the Institute. 2026 marks the 45th anniversary of President Reagan's historic appointment of Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman ever to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Confirmed by the Senate 99–0, Justice O'Connor was sworn in as the 102nd Justice on September 25, 1981, a milestone President Reagan had campaigned on and one that continues to shape the Institute's mission today.
The evening will feature presidential historian, author, and Grammy Award winner Douglas Brinkley, personally selected by First Lady Nancy Reagan to edit The Reagan Diaries, in conversation with moderator David Trulio, President and CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute from 2023 to 2026.
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