The Data, Ethics, and Policy student organization

Current MSCAPP students share about the student organization, Data, Ethics, and Policy. Originally founded by MSCAPP students, it aims to supplement Harris' existing data science curricula by equipping students with ethical grounding and frameworks for conducting data science.

Members: Apollinaire Abi, Khushi Desai, Pragya Khanal, Ashton Mayo Beavers, and Megha Viswanath

What is the mission/purpose of Data, Ethics, and Policy?

Data, Ethics, and Policy (DEP) is dedicated to sparking meaningful conversations at the intersection of—you guessed it—data, ethics, and policy. In a world where algorithms shape elections, AI influences hiring decisions, and data governs public services, DEP is a space for policy students to ask hard questions: Who benefits? Who is harmed? What responsibility do policymakers and technologists share? DEP brings together graduate students from across programs at the Harris School of Public Policy to wrestle with these questions.

How do you apply the skills you earned in the MSCAPP program to the projects you are doing with Data, Ethics, and Policy?

Curating the conference has been a collaborative effort, but it's also been deeply personal. As MSCAPP students, we leaned on our networks in the technology and data science world to bring together speakers and shape a program that doesn't shy away from technical depth. This year's agenda weaves together conversations on machine learning, applied data science, and the ethics frameworks that should, but don't always, accompany them.

It builds on the momentum of last year's Spring quarter event, where we hosted a panel with Lee-Or Bentovim, MSCAPP’25, and Rohit Kandala, MSCAPP’24, both of whom worked on the Harris for President campaign. That conversation gave students a rare window into how data and technology operate inside a real political campaign, the decisions made, the tradeoffs involved, and what it looks like when data work meets democratic stakes.

What are some key projects you have worked on as a group in the past year, or are currently planning, and how do these projects help the community?

The biggest moment on DEP's calendar this year was our annual conference in April. We had ~100 students from graduate programs across UChicago, from Harris to the Crown Family School of Social Work to the Booth School of Business, making it one of the more genuinely cross-departmental convenings on campus. We're proud to be supported by the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation, the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics, the Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago, and the MSCAPP program at Harris. This breadth of backing also reflects the kind of cross-disciplinary interest that DEP is built around.