• About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • The Wellesley (COVID) 100
      The Wellesley (COVID) 100
    • In memory of Professor Rebecca Summerhays
      In memory of Professor Rebecca Summerhays
    • Trans flag controversy: College power washes staircase after trans flag is painted over Harry Potter spray paint
      Trans flag controversy: College power washes staircase after trans flag is painted over Harry Potter spray paint
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • The News in Conversation: Wellesley Against Mass Incarceration
      The News in Conversation: Wellesley Against Mass Incarceration
    • Editorial Board calls for keeping up trans flag murals
      Editorial Board calls for keeping up trans flag murals
    • No, Elon Musk’s Twitter will not restore free speech
      No, Elon Musk’s Twitter will not restore free speech
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • Be/longing Centers Connection and Care
      Be/longing Centers Connection and Care
    • No image
      Birds Falling Upwards: Wellesley College Theater’s The Moors is a Must-See
    • No image
      Sometimes you just need to read a YA “Groundhog Day” to feel something
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
    • Books Before Boys
  • Health and Wellness
    • February Student Athlete of the Month
      February Student Athlete of the Month
    • Athletics Update
      Athletics Update
    • Victoria Garrick Speaks on Mental Health
      Victoria Garrick Speaks on Mental Health
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • The Wellesley Snooze
    • Wellesley News Leadership Changes Completely Peacefully Without Any Suspicious Disappearances At All
      Wellesley News Leadership Changes Completely Peacefully Without Any Suspicious Disappearances At All
    • Solve Your Connection Problems With Wellesley Insecure
      Solve Your Connection Problems With Wellesley Insecure
    • Mayhem strikes Wellesley as paper towels removed from campus
      Mayhem strikes Wellesley as paper towels removed from campus
  • Miscellanea
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
      Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
    • 50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
      50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Cynthia Chen News, News and FeaturesNovember 6, 2014

Student campaigning efforts culminate in midterm election party

Amidst red, white and blue balloons and an almost palpable excitement, students gathered in Pendleton Atrium to stream the live results from the midterm elections yesterday. Senators and representatives all over the country had been working hard to win the quadrennial elections, and Wellesley students had been doing the same to encourage students to vote and get involved in the election.

The Committee for Political and Legislative Awareness (CPLA), Wellesley’s non-partisan political committee in College Government, partnered with the Wilson Fund, Knapp Social Center, Wellesley College Democrats, Wellesley College Republicans and the Schneider Board of Governors to host an election night party last night. Around 150 students convened on Nov. 4 with boxes of pizza to watch the news in anticipation for the election results.

“This night is not necessarily for the results, but how Wellesley [students] can watch together and take a night from to homework to foster bipartisan dialogue and have fun,” Hannah Flesch ’16 said.

Others feel that this sense of community was not always present at Wellesley’s political functions.

“In 2012, [the election party] was on a little bigger scale, [but] it was very one sided,” Allie Carbonaro ’16 said.

This year, students joined together to watch broadcasts from Fox News and MSNBC.

“There is definitely a lot of excitement; people have been talking about [the election] for the past two weeks,” Julia Tazartes ’18 said. “I think it’s really nice how they created this environment for everyone to look at the election.”

Throughout the night, students ardently debated over state predictions.

“In France, you don’t really talk about elections between people, and this is really cool because people talk about it it a lot and experience it together,” Yasmine Akhavan ’18, an exchange student, said.

On the other hand, students such as Imara McMillan ’17 felt that the excitement at Wellesley was lacking.

“I feel like its a very muted level, which doesn’t surprise me, since there’s a lot of people voting absentee,” McMillan reflected. “I’m curious to see how this election will compare to 2016, because it has been relatively quiet even in a politically active campus.”

Throughout the semester, CPLA has been helping studnets to register to vote. CPLA hosted voter registration drives, where representatives the organization helped students complete voting registration forms or apply for absentee ballots.

Additionally this year, CPLA introduced TurboVote, an online tool, as an alternative way to register to vote. The Office of the Dean of Students decided to purchase TurboVote due to a grant from a partnership between TurboVote and Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education. TurboVote allows students to receive email or text reminders about election deadlines as part of an effort to increase voter turnout. CPLA is using this year as a test run for TurboVote to see if Wellesley College students utilize the tool or prefer traditional voter registration drives. This year, approximately 60 students came to CPLA’s in-person registration table and about 75 people used Turbovote.

CPLA has also co-sponsored two panels with Wellesley’s political science and economics departments, one about foreign policy and another about the probability of Democratic or Republican control of the Senate in the midterm elections. CPLA also held an absentee ballot party, hosted a political television night and various other events to promote political awareness and foster civic engagement on campus. Last Monday, Wellesley College Democrats invited Congressman Joe Kennedy and Governor Deval Patrick to campus to speak about the importance of youth activism and voting.

Several students on campus also served as interns for candidates’ campaigns prior to the midterm election, including for Republican candidate Charlie Baker and Democratic candidate Martha Coakley, who ran against each other for governor of Massachusetts.

“I’m just doing my part in the run-up to the election,” says Alexis Zhang ’17, who interned for Charlie Baker’s campaign this semester. As an intern, she had a wide array of duties, including stuffing envelopes, making recruitment calls, training volunteers, staffing events and helping with election day operations.

On Nov. 4, Charlie Baker was elected the Governor of Massachusetts.

“He wants to focus on growing the economy, and he cares about improving educational opportunities for everyone,” said Reba Meserve ’16, president of the Wellesley College Republicans.

It was announced close to midnight after most votes had been tallied that the Republicans gained control of the Senate.

“The next two years might be a huge power play for Republicans in the Congress because they will be able to effectively blockade all liberal efforts that are made by the President and create an even more unpopular presidential term for Obama,” Alice Lee ’18 predicted. “On the other side, it doesn’t look too bleak for the Democrats because in the 2016 presidential election, further gridlock that is majority Republican will reflect poorly.”

Throughout the semester both Wellesley College Democrats and Republicans strove to influence students in the election. Both organizations went door-to-door in the town of Wellesley to reach out to voters in the community and held phone banks to remind voters to get to the polls. Both organizations also have campaigned to promote their candidates and increase the low voter turnout that often plagues midterm elections.

“I’d argue that midterm elections matter just as much though, because of this low turnout. If not as many people are voting, your own vote counts even more,” CPLA Chair Beth Feldstein ’15 said.

Many campaign workers are interns and volunteers who are often college students who have fewer commitments, such as full-time jobs or families, than older generations.

“We had a really dedicated group of volunteers this election season,” Chase reflected.

Campaigning work is a significant time commitment, and college students have to balance a hectic student schedule with efforts for the election. Chase recounted times spent phone banking instead of writing a paper that was due the next day.

“But I remind myself that if I don’t participate in the election, then I have no right to complain about the outcome,” Chase said. “If young people like me don’t do the work, who will?”

Photo by Soojin Jeong ’17, Photography Editor 

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleMental health survey reveals mixed reactions to campus resources
Next article11/12

You may also like

The Wellesley (COVID) 100

In memory of Professor Rebecca Summerhays

Trans flag controversy: College power washes staircase after trans flag is painted over Harry Potter spray paint

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

Sorry. No data so far.

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2022 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top