Getting Out the Vote on Our Campuses

Midterm 2006 Dispatches and Images from Student Correspondents around the Country

TSU Successfully Solicits Voters

By Cara Anthony, Tennessee State University

At Tennessee State University, Student Government Association officials, past and present, solicited student organizations to register voters and hold voting rally events.

Current SGA vice president Hodari P.T. Brown and 2003-04 SGA president Shawntaz Crawford said TSU’s chapters of Sigma Alpha Lambda leadership organization, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., College Democrats, and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. all aided in GOTV efforts.

“As African Americans, we almost always vote Democrat but never research,” Brown said. “I always tell people, ‘I am not a Democrat or Republican. I vote for the issues that pertain to me [as a] college student.’”

Charles R. Burnett, Jr., the campus and community relations director for TSU’s chapter of Phi Beta Sigma, said his organization used the opportunity to make a positive impact on the young individuals at the university.

Burnett, a junior business information systems major from Memphis, said the fraternity’s “Vote with the Sigmas” rally was a success.

“Our fraternity was founded on the basis of civil rights,” Burnett said. “So that’s why we found it very important to exercise our voting rights and impact the students at TSU.”

Vote or Die: CSUN student group pushes importance of voting

By Amanda Koger, California State University, Northridge

Students at California State University, Northridge are just like any other students, which means that voting is not always high on the priority list.

“I don’t vote because usually I don’t know who’s running,” said Sara Evans, a junior accounting major.

However, Associated Students set out to change students’ views this November by passing out fliers and pamphlets that informed students of the candidates and their political platforms. The student group also set up booths outside that helped students register to vote.

“I definitely think that the efforts of AS helps students with the whole voting process,” said sophomore Tasha Green. “They help the students understand who is running and what their views on certain topics are.”

Green also feels that the African-American students should vote to ensure that issues related to the Black community are heard.

“I think that Black students have to vote because we are already the minority, so whatever voice that we have, we have to use it,” Green said. “At the end of the day you really have to vote because it really is like life or death.”

Former Gore campaign manager urges KSU students to take a stand, vote

By Sheila Ellis, Kansas State University

Donna Brazile, the first African American to lead a large presidential campaign (Gore-Lieberman), lectured at Kansas State University to support Alpha Phi Alpha’s national political awareness campaign, “A voteless people is a hopeless people.”

Careem Gladney, vice president of Alpha Phi Alpha, said the campaign was created by the fraternity in the 1930s when African Americans had the right to vote but were discouraged from doing so.

“We felt Brazile would be able to stress the importance of voting to young people,” Abdul Rasak Yahaya, president of Alpha Phi Alpha, said.

Brazile said the purpose of her lecture was to get people to vote for candidates who care about issues that matter to them.

“We are sending people into the White House that have no idea of the day-to-day struggles of American people,” Brazile said.

Candace Moyd, sophomore in social work, said she was greatly inspired by the lecture.

“She made it clear that anyone can make a difference just by voting,” Moyd said.

NAACP at Rust College Registers Hundreds

By Danielle Moore, Rust College

Rather than just setting up booths and tables, the NAACP chapter at Rust College in Mississippi took a unique approach in its effort to get students registered to vote.

Melissa Brookens, NAACP chapter president, said the organization, in consultation with the Office of Student Affairs, was able to incorporate the GOTV campaign with freshman orientation activities.

“We had a good turnout, registering well over 200 students,” said Brookens, a senior biology major.

Chapter members interacted with freshmen one-on-one, and explained the importance of being a registered voter. Brookens said that as of a result of the event, over 200 students registered to vote.

Other chapter initiatives included partnering with Shirley Byers, a candidate for circuit judge in Marshall County, Miss., to sponsor a campaign picnic, yielding a second opportunity for the chapter to register additional students, as well as community residents.

At Howard, Being Politically Active is ‘Cool’

By Phillip Lucas, Howard University

During the midterm elections, most Howard students hoped for Democratic victories and were pleased with the election results. On-campus political groups collaborated to help students familiarize themselves with the midterm election process.

“The Political Science Society did not play an individual role in the election process. However, we did pair up with other organizations to help the H.U. campus become more familiar with the process,” said the Society’s vice president, Rachael Allen-Stephens, who also admitted that midterm elections were not one of the biggest agendas of the year.

Allen-Stephens also believes that Howard University students are very politically active.

“Here, being involved in student government is not un-cool, but an instrument that is used to make one more marketable to the corporate realm and, most importantly, more aware of what is happening within the Black community. H.U. forces students to get involved and make a change.”

Viewpoint: “Vote or Die?”

By Jessica Harris, Morgan State University

The 2006 midterms were said to have been among the most important political elections in the last decade. With the war in Iraq, the battle over healthcare and funding for college students among some of the main issues, the Black vote, as well as votes from young adults, were the most coveted. With all these important issues on the table, many of which will have a direct, immediate effect on all of us as students, a number of young Black citizens still did not take the time to cast a vote.

I have not met one person on Morgan State University’s campus who has not complained about a lack of financial aid. Some of us have complained that our specific departments do not have enough money to fund programs and activities that would be beneficial to our learning experience. While these are all valid grievances, many people doing all the talking are the same ones who did not make their way to the polls.

Discussing the election in one of my classes, I realized that many of my peers are just completely uninformed. The discussion was carried by myself and about three other students who seemed to be the only ones who had taken the time to become educated about the political world we live in. Some of my classmates were only able to regurgitate bits and pieces of news that had been given to them second or third hand. Sadly, most had not cared enough to find out anything and this kind of ignorance is not uncommon on my campus and many others across the country.

Unless a famous rapper or actor pushes young people to go vote it does not happen. The last time there was a rush to the polls was when Diddy threw on a “Vote or Die” t-shirt and made participating in the political process the “thing to do”.

Extended Readings

• Q&A: Yvonne Bynoe on Hop Hop Generation Politics
  By Shawn Chollette, THE BLACK COLLEGIAN
  Author of Stand and Deliver: Political Activism, Leadership and Hip Hop Culture