College Students Lead in Political Involvement
Well, there’s something about this year that is connecting our college students with the political process. At the Minnesota Caucuses Tuesday night, Precinct 10, made up almost entirely of college students (and the vast majority of those are Freshmen and a few sophomores), led the way with the highest turnout in the city of Duluth: 316 voters showed up to participate. And Precinct 10 is not where Duluth usually has the greatest student political involvement. At precincts throughout the students districts of the East Hillside, Woodland, and elsewhere, students appeared to play a major role in the caucuses. Part of the story is told in the Duluth News Tribune here. Another article from UMD is here. And here is a story from the UMD Statesman. Credit for the student involvement should come from the overall excitement that young people have towards politics this year, but UMD’s Office of Civic Engagement, a partner with the Brain Gain group of KCCI, also played a significant role in helping students understand the caucus system and train students how to take part. Some examples:Theater professor Bill Payne used the caucus system in one of his acting classes as an example of theater, which while bringing a great example to his class also got his students enthused for caucus night. Office of Civic Engagement worker Pete Woitock helped organize a student caucus training session the week before the caucus. Nearly 100 students turned out because the materials were fresh and aimed at today’s students. The Office of Civic Engagement’s website is here.
