Last semester, the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group (NCPIRG) made its way back on campus, reinstating its NC State chapter and leading initiatives with its new student leaders, despite difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to NCPIRG’s NC State chapter President Carly Richardson, a third-year studying  political science and sociology, NCPIRG is a nonprofit state organization focused on promoting citizen and student activism. There are multiple college chapters within NCPIRG, with UNC-Chapel Hill’s being the most well-known in North Carolina due to its size. With the NC State chapter of NCPIRG being a relatively new reinstallation on campus, Richardson said member focus this year has been around building numbers and partnerships with the campus community.

According to Richardson, the goal of bringing NCPIRG back to campus was to empower students looking to get into community activism and grassroots organizing. 

“We work on issues students care about, so that means college affordability, textbook affordability, environmental issues,” Richardson said. “Last semester, we worked on the new project which worked to register voters and get them to make a voting plan, and this semester, we’re working on food insecurity and housing instability, specifically as they relate to college students.”

NCPIRG’s NC State chapter Vice President Rachel Rafter, a second-year studying political science and fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology, said the semester’s focus on food insecurity and housing instability came after a chapter vote on the issues.

“We had a general vote among our members, and there was an overwhelming response to the housing instability and food insecurity,” Rafter said. “It was a big deal among people probably because the coronavirus pandemic has made people, who maybe in the past weren’t dealing with these issues, [have to deal with them] now.”

As a nonpartisan organization, Richardson and Rafter said choosing the right incentives and promotions is crucial for the NCPIRG. For example, during the voter initiative collaboration with Student Government last semester, the NC State chapter of NCPIRG made sure their initiatives were focused on public interest and not on partisan talking points.

The NC State chapter of NCPIRG has had to get creative with its outreach amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Richardson and Rafter, this has meant making a lot of appearances in virtual spaces, including synchronous Zoom classes, department newsletters and online club meetings. The NC State chapter of NCPIRG has three subdivisions — campus relations, recruitment and visibility — which work collaboratively to bring together students interested in joining NCPIRG virtually. 

“We have a really great visibility team who have managed to promote us through social media as well as through different classes virtually,” Richardson said. “And, you know, saying ‘Hey! If you guys are interested in student activism, this is a great organization to join.’”

According to Richardson and Rafter, outreach had been going particularly well this semester. However, both expressed some concern over online outreach, citing difficulties with community-building.

“I can reach out to my friends’ professors if they have synchronous things over Zoom or whatever, I can get on those, but if classes were all in person, I wouldn’t be able to do that,” Rafter said. “So it’s almost like we can do that to more people, but the impact might be a little less because we’re speaking to them over a screen.”

Currently, Richardson and Rafter said the NC State chapter is in the middle of a speaker series, in which various NC State and local community leaders get together to share their knowledge about and experiences of helping the local community. While the chapter doesn’t have an official website yet, students can contact the organization through social media or send them an email for inquiries.

“I’d been wanting to do something with the election year before [the chapter was reinstated], so it was a good opportunity for me to try to get involved,” Rafter said. “I actually got my sister to vote for the first time by being involved with them, so I was like ‘Hm, I did something!’”

For more information, visit the NC State chapter of NCPIRG’s Facebook and Instagram.