For Frances De Leon, this presidential election is a milestone.
It’s the first time she will be old enough to vote in a presidential election, and as a young Latina she is excited to exercise her civic right to cast a ballot on Nov. 8.
De Leon, president of Lesley’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG), has been collaborating with her peers and the Student Activities staff to engage the campus community in the election, hosting voter registration tables at the White Hall dining commons and running fun activities to inspire political engagement such as a “decorate a candidate” cookie station and a “photo booth” with cardboard cutouts of the candidates.
“Student Government has been doing a lot to get students aware of what’s going on,” said De Leon, a senior majoring in elementary education and global studies.
The Office of Student Activities has offered debate viewings, and there will be a number of activities to help students get to the polls on Election Day.
“We’re trying to encourage all students to vote,” said senior Brittany Fields, executive chair of finance for USG.
USG will have trips throughout the day to walk people to the nearest polling location. In keeping with Lesley's tradition around the presidential and mid-term elections, there will also be a party on election night so that the campus community can watch the returns come in while enjoying food and discussions about issues related to the election.
The election is also coming up in the classroom, such as Assistant Professor Michael Illuzzi’s course on elections and democracy that he is teaching this semester, and his introduction to political science classes.
Through reading “Representation: Elections and Beyond,” Dr. Illuzzi’s students are exploring voting laws and practices in national, provincial and municipal governments across three continents, and comparing them with our system. They are delving into everything from electoral reform to a proportional system of governance, drawing conclusions about what is working in our democracy and what’s not.
“We’re looking at issues with a two-party system and exploring what solutions there might be,” says Dr. Illuzzi. “Campaigns are so media intensive that it’s hard to deconstruct what’s going on. I’m helping students understand how we’re being manipulated.”
As a professor of political science, he hopes for broader civic engagement – not just in the presidential election every four years. Fields, who is majoring in psychology and minoring in art therapy and creative writing, said that’s been part of USG’s information campaign.
“We’re encouraging people to vote in general and get information about the ballot questions and all the different offices, like the sheriff and county commissioners,” she said.
Professor Jo-Anne Hart offers a website devoted to free materials for all educators to teach civic participation, called “Growing Voters.” Through www.growingvoters.org, Dr. Hart provides technology-based curriculum that spans grades 1-12, and also includes college-level simulations and assignments.
“We want students engaged and thinking critically about elections, the process, and motivated to be active participants through voting,” says Hart. “And, as importantly, elections provide a framework for good teaching.”
Students say it’s been rewarding to guide their peers through the process of voter registration, early voting and the absentee voting process.
“It’s a very big election, what both candidates stand for and say,” said De Leon. “It’s coming up in all of our classes. Students are sharing information on Facebook – some of it is satirical and some of it is serious – but people are paying attention, which is great.”
“You can’t escape it,” added Fields.
In Fields’s adolescent psychology class with Associate Professor Dr. Carol Streit, the students are debating ballot Question 2 (to authorize additional charter schools in Massachusetts) and Question 4 (to legalize marijuana in Massachusetts), through the lens of the impact on adolescent and pre-adolescent populations.
“It’s a really cool assignment,” said Fields.
USG is hopeful for a strong voter turnout among the campus population on Nov. 8.
“People have definitely been watching the debates and people are definitely talking,” said Fields. “No matter what happens, there will be a lot of conversation taking place.”