CIVIC SIPS
- Date: Thursday, November 12
- Time: 6-8:30 P.M.
- Location: LA Old State Capitol
PAR and the LSU Reilly Center invite you to Civic Speed Dating, a special edition of Civic Sips where participants will get the chance to chat face-to-face with state and local leaders!
Civic Sips is designed to bring people together in a relaxed setting to share a meaningful conversation about how we can build a better civic future. And what better way to do that than an evening of speed dating with the people who help shape your community?Â
Here’s how it works:
Leaders will rotate from table to table, so each group gets a chance to ask questions and share ideas. This is meant to be a casual conversation where you have the opportunity to talk with leaders as if they were your neighbors. These conversations are how we can highlight our shared values and build common ground.
See the full list of leaders below and click on their headshot to learn more:
Regina Barrow, Senate President Pro Tempore
Carolyn Coleman, Baton Rouge Metro Council Member
Sid Edwards, Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish
Franklin Foil, Senate Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Chair
Rowdy Gaudet, Baton Rouge Metro Council Member
Jill Kidder, Visit Baton Rouge President/CEO
Vanessa LaFleur, House Admin. of Criminal Justice Vice Chair
Cliff Lewis, EBR Parish School Board Vice President
Davante Lewis, Public Service Commissioner
Patrick Martin, EBR Parish School Board Member
Heath Schroyer, LSU Senior Deputy Athletic Director
Tim Temple, Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance
PIZZA & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Nov. 5 | 12 P.M. | Holliday Forum, Journalism Building LSU
LSU’s Chief Communications Officer, Meg Casper Sunstrom, will join us for Pizza & Public Affairs on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 12 p.m.
Sunstrom has had a distinguished career in communications, spanning television news reporting and state agency communications. Before her new role at LSU, Sunstrom was the Chief Communications Officer for the Louisiana Legislature.
At LSU, Sunstrom coordinates with campuses, athletics, foundations and alumni associations to strategically implement and amplify a unified message for the LSU brand.
This monthly on-campus discussion series for LSU students features a guest speaker (such as a public official, civic leader, public affairs practitioner or expert on polarization) who, in a casual dialogue format over free pizza, will share with students how they have achieved successful policy or program outcomes by building coalitions and communicating in a way that bridges division.Â
Check out moments from our past Pizza & Public Affairs events with former congressman Charles Boustany, Louisiana’s Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed, former Gov. John Bel Edwards, Arnessa Garret, Johanna Dunaway, Liz Mangham, Clay Young and Rep. Jack McFarland.
THE COMMON GROUND SURVEY
The 2026 Louisiana Common Ground Survey provides a statewide portrait of political attitudes, civic life, media use, institutional trust and cross-partisan relationships.
The poll is part of the Common Ground Project, a nonpartisan partnership between the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana (PAR) and LSU’s Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs that seeks to understand and reduce polarization in Louisiana, while promoting dialogue and civic thought.
Academic research on polarization suggests that traditional measures partly capture people’s opinions of something like caricatures, with news and social media amplifying the beliefs of the extreme ends of the political spectrum. Research also points to at least one way to counter the problem: by encouraging more face-to-face interpersonal experiences.
The Common Ground Project builds off that idea, not only studying what it means to communicate in a polarized world but also providing LSU students and Louisiana citizens with real-world opportunities for engaging constructively across ideological viewpoints.
The poll was conducted by LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab and focused on gauging measures of polarization across the state, compared to national trends, as well as areas of shared values, trust in institutions, civic participation and media use.
We all know how divided our world feels today. Political polarization makes real conversation harder, and too often, people stop listening altogether.
That’s why the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana and LSU’s Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs are partnering on survey research and programming to understand and reduce political polarization in Louisiana, while promoting dialogue and civic thought.
The nonpartisan Common Ground Project explores what it means to communicate in a polarized world and provide LSU students and Louisiana citizens with information and opportunities for engaging constructively across ideological lines and viewpoints.
The Common Ground Project consists of the following initiatives:Â
- Pizza & Public Affairs
- Civic Sips
- The Common Ground Survey
In recent years, Louisiana has seen increased ideological clustering, especially between urban and rural communities, alongside growing distrust in the media, government and even neighbors with different views. These trends have undermined the foundations of democratic problem-solving.
The Reilly Center and PAR hope the Common Ground Project will engage communities to identify shared values, rebuild trust across divides and respond to the structural and cultural drivers of division in Louisiana’s civic landscape.
Check out Louisiana Public Broadcasting’s video about the Common Ground Project:
Read PAR and the Reilly Center’s guest column about the Common Ground Project: