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After successfully raising voter awareness at Lafayette during the 2004 national elections, Holla Back will again work to increase voter registration for the 2006 midterm elections. This spring, student members are speaking to College Writing classes and planning a weekly political newsletter.
Holla Back came to life in 2004 when several students noticed a need for more political engagement on campus. They registered 507 voters in 2004 and hosted a variety of election-related events, including a mock presidential election.
Jillian Gaeta ’07(Middletown, N.J.), a double major in international affairs and French; Marquis Scholar Alysse Henkel ’08 (West Des Moines, Iowa), a government and foreign language major; Hannah Schorr ’08 (Vestal, N.Y.); Nate Durning ’06 (Evanston, Ill.), an economics and business major; and Marquis Scholar Madeline Stavis ’08 (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) are the principle student organizers.
“Voting is one of the many important ways that students can directly engage in politics and influence change,” says Gaeta, who helped begin Holla Back in 2004. “Politicians are making decisions every day that affect the lives of young students, and it is important that students know how legislation will affect them and have an idea of what is occurring in the world around them.”
This semester, Holla Back members have been working with English professors to talk to their College Writing classes and register students to vote. They produced a political newsletter this semester and are developing a plan to create a weekly publication.
As the 2006 midterm elections draw near, the group also plans to host educational events about the races most important to Lafayette students, including the Pennsylvania race between Rick Santorum and Bob Casey for senator and Senate and gubernatorial elections in New York. Holla Back is choosing races to spotlight based on the demographic composition of Lafayette’s student population. They also will continue voter registration and assisting students in retrieving absentee ballots.
For more information, contact Gaeta.