Our Purpose

These are difficult times in the United States. Trust in people and institutions is declining. Our democracy is under serious strain.

In light of this, we have created this Institute as a way to disseminate high-quality and consistently nonpartisan information to the American public around issues of societal well-being, democracy promotion, and news literacy.


Our Name

The CONNORS INSTITUTE is named for the late Thomas Connors, a longtime editor for the Journal of Commerce newspaper and an advocate for disability rights in the 1960s and 1970s in Fairfax, Virginia.


Our People


DIRECTOR

Lawrence M. Eppard

Shippensburg University

CO-DIRECTORS

Michael Anthony Deas

Northwestern University/fmr. Chicago Tribune

Jacob Mackey

Occidental College

DEMOCRACY LAB SUPERVISOR

Thomas Hatvany

Shippensburg University

DEMOCRACY LAB SCHOLARS

Niel Brasher

Senior Analyst

Shippensburg University

Erik Nelson

Senior Analyst

Brigham Young University

Bradley Bullock

Visiting Scholar

Shippensburg University

CURRENT DEMOCRACY LAB RESEARCH FELLOWS

Katie Bonomo

Jillian Carley

Moses Kimotho

Madison Laughman

Annie Linker

Joshua Strayer

Tedra Ulrich

PAST DEMOCRACY LAB RESEARCH FELLOWS

Kayla Dalhouse

Allyson Ritchey

CONNORS INSTITUTE ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS

Jason Adrians

Lee Enterprises

Mona Charen

The Bulwark

Naomi Creason

The Sentinel

Varoujan Gorjian

Astrophysicist

Lee Jussim

Rutgers University

Jacob Mackey

Occidental College

David Monaghan

Shippensburg University

Vanessa Otero

Ad Fontes Media

Kathleen Romig

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Michael Shermer

Skeptic Magazine

Steven Sloman

Brown University

Josefine Smith

Shippensburg University

Jim Swift

The Bulwark