Students participate in Easton voter mobilization event

By Grace Sanborn ’25

Fourteen students in Prof. Andrew Clarke’s GOV 215: Campaigns and Elections in the U.S. class had the opportunity to participate in a voter mobilization event at the Boys and Girls Club of Easton Oct. 5. The event, co-sponsored by the Easton chapter of the NAACP, Lafayette Libraries, and Landis Center for Community Engagement’s Lafayette Votes, was a nonpartisan voter registration community event complete with a bouncy castle and an ice cream truck for families to enjoy.

As part of the syllabus requirements for Campaigns and Elections in the U.S., students must engage in political action connected to the class. According to Clarke, experiential learning opportunities, such as the voter mobilization drive, allow students “to connect their understanding of the data reviewed in rigorous studies with their own lived experiences.” 

“It’s really important to me that students are also able to consider very local, nonpartisan efforts to increase political engagement within our own community,” Clarke says. “After all, much of the research we cover underscores the importance of preexisting social connections and supporting communities at a grassroots level.”

Charlotte Nunes, dean of libraries, brought the opportunity to Clarke and served as a liaison between the different community and campus partners responsible for organizing the event.   

“I think many people, both at Lafayette and in the community beyond, care about civic engagement, we care about voter mobilization,” Nunes says. “I think it’s nice to come together around that kind of shared purpose. All the best practices in community engagement really focus on mutual reciprocity, foundation-building, relationship-building, and collaboration that takes as long as it takes.”

While the event was a targeted voter registration drive, Nunes says there is also an “inherent value” to raising the visibility of partners like the NAACP and the Boys and Girls Club in the community. 

“I can say anecdotally that the NAACP and the Boys and Girls Club members who were active in making this event possible were really excited to see the turnout from Lafayette, and really impressed with the level of professionalism and engagement that the students brought to the table,” Nunes says. 

Abigail Cook ’27, one of the students in Clarke’s class who attended the event, says the event let the class step into the Easton community and see their lessons translated in real life. 

“Instead of just reading a textbook, we were able to see firsthand how attempting to mobilize voters works,” Cook says.