Harry Patton Hou ’25 will build upon his voter advocacy efforts as this year’s Lang Social Impact Fellow, working to advance bipartisan reform to repeal closed primaries in Pennsylvania.

His work centers on civic education and advocacy, with a focus on engaging stakeholders and increasing the voice of everyday Pennsylvanians. While at Swarthmore, Hou co-founded Students for Ballot PA, a nonpartisan, statewide volunteer group of college students seeking to repeal the state’s closed primaries.

“Our education and advocacy efforts to repeal closed primaries over the past few years have primarily focused on securing support from Pennsylvania’s civic leaders — from all five former living governors to practically every major media outlet’s editorial board,” says Hou, who was an Honors philosophy major at Swarthmore.

“This year, I would like to elevate the voices of ordinary Pennsylvanians in the effort to repeal closed primaries,” he adds. “I’m most excited to expand and deepen my relationships across our Commonwealth, augmenting our efforts for this bipartisan, good-government reform in Harrisburg.”

Each year, a recent graduate of Swarthmore is selected for the Lang Social Impact Fellowship, which supports alumni in continuing their social impact projects through stakeholder engagement and systems-change work. 

“An exceptional leader, engaged scholar, and advocate for voter enfranchisement, Harry demonstrates ethical intelligence in action,” says Jen Magee, director of program development, implementation & assessment for the Lang Center.

Key features of the fellowship include mentoring, training, and funding. Hou is eager to support current Swarthmore students with their social impact projects.

“I’m eager to strategize with them about how to lean into relationship-building throughout their projects,” he says. “Fortunately, I suspect this applies to most of the projects.”