OH NO! Now what?

This semester, the office of Civic Engagement and the J. Glenn Beall Institute for Public affairs at Frostburg State University completed its two-year civic engagement collaboration by hosting a diverse array of programs designed to engage students in the democratic process leading up to the Presidential election. A series of Town Hall Meetings were held that focused on domestic issues, foreign policy, and the presidential candidates to engage students in discussion of topics that resonated with their interests and personal values. Multiple debate viewing parties along with food and refreshments were organized to help educate the students on each party’s platforms and boost interest in the election. The University even hosted non-standard election programming ranging from the presentation of the political comedy skits and song parodies of Capitol Steps to a campus viewing of the horror film The Purge: Election Year.  The goals of this student and academic affairs collaboration focused on building a spirit of campus engagement around the election; engaging students in active discussion, and reinforcing the importance of participating in the election process by voting.

Our final challenge focused on getting out the student vote. TurboVote tables were hosted weekly and TurboVote registration was included as a part of every special engagement program. TurboVote was introduced to the freshmen in their orientation classes and the FSU website and social media outlets with tweets and digital signage reminding students to request an absentee ballot. As a final push, the day before the election reminders about provisional voting, poll locations, and the availability of shuttles to the polls were sent out to all students. We believe had done everything we could to foster a climate of civic engagement for our students and it was now time for our student body to take action. As educators we began to wonder did our efforts really make a difference? Students signed up with TurboVote and the shuttles to the election polls had steady customers.  We questioned if more students were voting this year, realizing we would have to wait for the NSLVE report to know for sure. Then at 3:00 pm on election day we received a call from our News and Media Relations office regarding election participation by students.  The local paper wanted to interview someone about student voting because they discovered that for the first time, ever, the local polling place had run out of provisional ballots and were getting more shipped up from the board of elections. (Article: http://www.times-news.com/news/local_news/precinct-runs-out-of-ballots-after-effort-to-get-fsu/article_34315f14-1518-5861-8ae8-1b0b74b2432f.html ) A sign of success! We concluded our efforts with an Election Night Viewing Party with mock voting, a democracy wall, food and more.  Hundreds of students attended the event and were glued to every election update CNN offered up that evening. We had done it!

Then the unexpected happened… For a vast majority of our students, and many of our Faculty and staff, their candidate lost. Trump would become the new president-elect. Since this realization, many students on campus have become disheartened, have voiced their concerns for their safety and their future, and feel they lost the political battle of their millennial lifetime. However, I would argue, that for the first time in a long time, we are winning the battle with apathy and disengagement of our students. Yes, the result of the presidency may not have been what many of us had hoped for, but our students were invested in the process and the outcome.  More importantly, this loss provides us as educators, a greater opportunity to re-engage and help our students understand the importance of getting involved in the democratic process and reaching out to their senators, congress, and local governments. For many students, just like many other Americans, voting priority takes place primarily at the Presidential level. This election upset gives us a greater opportunity to drive home the importance of democratic engagement at all levels.  Our students can begin to understand their responsibility to work within the system even when their party is not in the White House, and that their contributions to the democratic process eventually do make a difference.

“We always hear about the rights of democracy, but the major responsibility of it is participation.”

-          Wynton Marsalis