---
title: A Vote for Civic Education
date: 2025-05-12T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/a-vote-for-civic-education"
section: Articles
---
# A Vote for Civic Education

*May 12, 2025* — by [Annie Krakower](/author/annie-krakower)


> Gift to Maryland Democracy Initiative Supports Political Engagement, Literacy Efforts

*Laufer Democracy Internship 08072024 RS 3486 1920x1080 — Marsha Laufer ’64 and her husband, Henry Laufer (below), listen to students’ experiences in the Laufer Democracy Internship Program last summer at Stamp Student Union. The couple’s latest gift to the Maryland Democracy Initiative will support projects to boost civic literacy and democratic engagement in K-12 classrooms, higher ed and beyond.*

Well before she hosted political fundraisers, worked on candidate campaigns or was even old enough to head to the ballot box, Marsha Laufer ’64 found her lifelong passion in an assignment from her seventh-grade civics teacher.

The task was simple: Read the party platforms and choose a side for a class debate. It encouraged Laufer to ask her parents about their politics for the first time.

“That background facilitated a conversation and growing political awareness,” she said. “And later in life, it stimulated my recognition of the significant need for and importance of civics education.”

Now, she and her husband, Henry Laufer, hope to inspire similar political interest and involvement among the next generation of voters. The couple’s $6 million gift to UMD’s [Maryland Democracy Initiative](https://mdi.umd.edu/) (MDI) will support projects to boost civic literacy and democratic engagement in K-12 classrooms, higher ed and beyond.

“One of the goals of civics education has to be that young people leave these classes and interactions with the knowledge that their voice makes a difference,” Marsha Laufer said.

MDI, a nonpartisan program launched in 2023 with funding from a [Grand Challenges Impact Award](https://research.umd.edu/mdi), incorporates expertise from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, College of Education, Philip Merrill College of Journalism and School of Public Policy to encourage civic participation and tackle threats to democracy.


*Marsha and Henry Laufer*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Alumni](https://today.umd.edu/topic/alumni), [Government and Politics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/government-and-politics), [Philanthropy](https://today.umd.edu/topic/philanthropy), [Civic Engagement](https://today.umd.edu/topic/civic-engagement), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [College of Behavioral and Social Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-behavioral-and-social-sciences), [College of Education](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-education), [Office of the Provost](https://today.umd.edu/topic/office-provost), [Philip Merrill College of Journalism](https://today.umd.edu/topic/philip-merrill-college-journalism), [School of Public Policy](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-public-policy)