TU ready to ‘rock the vote’

By Megan Bradshaw on September 24, 2018

As the 2018 midterm elections approach, students at higher-education institutions across the nation report feeling disengaged and uninformed.

The Institute for Democracy & Higher Education’s National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement found that only 29 percent of students attending public, four-year institutions voted in the 2014 mid-term elections, despite a registration rate of 64.1 percent.

But Towson University’s Office of Civic Engagement & Social Responsibility is working to change that. TU’s National Voter Registration Day celebration on Tuesday, Sept. 25, wraps up Star-Spangled September—a series of events aimed at increasing political engagement and interest on campus.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., volunteers will staff voter registration and information tables in Freedom Square, on the Beach and in the University Union. Mobile teams will roam the campus, helping people register to vote.

Students, faculty and staff can register on TurboVote; the cut off for registering to vote in Maryland is Oct. 16.

“This is a non-partisan, non-issue effort,” said Luis Sierra, assistant director for civic engagement. “Anyone doing something to register people is the most important thing.”

Sophie Bertrand ’20, a Vote Everywhere ambassador and member of the TU Votes Initiative, is a passionate student voice for boosting millennial political involvement.

“We are the new generation, and we should have a voice in shaping the world we grow up in,” she said. “I vote because it’s my civic duty and my own responsibility to play a role in our democracy. I want my voice to be heard and to have the potential to enact major change in the world around me.”

Bertrand told The Towerlight that students have a lot of reasons for not voting, and some of them are centered on a lack of information.

That is the other arm of the TU Votes Initiative: education. Volunteers will answer individuals’ questions during National Voter Registration Day, and TurboVote offers deadlines and reminders and instructions on requesting and filling out absentee ballots.

Sierra also suggests checking out the website vote411.org for detailed information on candidates’ positions on issues voters care about.

The website is powered by The League of Women Voters. TU marketing intelligence graduate student Gulalai Khan ‘18 is working with the league on a voter registration project this term. 

After meeting with local leadership, Khan developed a Facebook ad campaign to help the organization with its education efforts, centering on immigration, nutrition and health and transportation issues.

Her goal is to engage a diverse population throughout Baltimore.

Although Khan admits to not being very politically active, she believes the project has been valuable.

“It’s good to be aware of the issues that affect you and ways you can do something about them,” she said. “Doing the work for the project has been a good way to educate myself.”

Get involved

TU to host “The Future of 42” candidate debate

On Friday, Sept. 28, Towson University will host the debates for the District 42 State Senator and District 42A State Delegate at 6 p.m. in the Minnegan Room at Unitas Stadium. The senate debate will precede the delegate debate.

Parking is available in Lots 19, 20 and 21. For more information and accommodations, contact Donna DeLeno Neuworth of the Knollwood Association at dmdneuworth@gmail.com.

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel’s priorities for Towson University: TU Matters to Maryland.