By Ashanti Thompson
Historically, the percentage of college students who vote has been low. This year, the seniors in the Communication Department worked to increase that number. The majors helped students register to vote, hosted two debate watches, created information flyers, and ended their efforts with an election results watch party at the Boiler House.
To reserve the Boiler House, the seniors talked to Benny Lopez, the general manager of Bulldog Dining Services. After ensuring the event would not disrupt business times, Lopez stated, “I think it’s super cool that the interest from young people is as high as it is.” He also emphasized that the Boiler House was built for students and shared that he hopes to host more events in the future.
On November 5, the seniors served free hot chocolate and popcorn from the local movie theatre. Simultaneously, the Boiler House had its normal menu available and sold alcohol until 9 p.m.. Red and blue cloths covered the tables, and multiple news stations played on the televisions above.
As the event began, students began to fill the Boiler House, including Lexi Heckeroth, a sophomore who is double majoring in raphic design and studio art with a minor in peace studies. Heckeroth attended every event the seniors hosted to raise awareness for college voting. This was Heckeroth’s first time being able to vote, and this was an election she was very passionate about. Heckeroth also noticed that the election-themed events were considered to be unbiased by students on both sides of the line. Heckeroth expressed, “The way that these are being held is probably the most safe I could feel talking about my opinions in this way.”
McPherson is a diverse campus with students from around the world. This means not every student on campus can vote, including senior baseball player Cambell Lyons from Toronto, Canada. Despite not being able to vote, he feels the election is important to him too because the outcome could affect Canada’s economy. When discussing the uprise in political information around campus, Lyons said, “I think it’s a really good idea because at 18 you can vote, so make sure everyone knows what they can do.”
While this was a student-led event, Dr. Becki Bowman is the teacher for the communication seniors. She helped them plan, orchestrate, and execute all events this fall semester. After working the polls on election day, Dr. Bowman said, “Today, multiple people told me, who have worked polls in the past, they have seen more college students voting today than they have ever seen before.” We cannot know for sure whether that is because of the communication seniors and their efforts, but it is clear that our generation of college students are becoming more civically engaged!
