You could have cracked open a few beers with some friends and tuned into the Lions vs. Bears game.
You could have stayed home in your pajamas and absorbed the latest happenings of “Gossip Girl.”
Or you could have come to the BCC to discuss the future of your country as you watched two men verbally battle for the chance to be in charge.
On Monday night, students gathered in the Lower Level BCC to watch a communal screening of the third presidential debate and fourth overall debate in the 2012 presidential race. This viewing event was just one of many programs in an election series arranged by the office of Student Programs and Leadership Development.
“I think the civic engagement, or potential for civic engagement, is really important,” said Elissa Carroll, associate director of Student Programs and Leadership Development. “Students seeing other students engaging in it is helpful to get others excited or interested in what is going on.”
According to Carroll, approximately 35 to 45 students were in attendance for the duration of each debate viewings. Though many students left before the conclusion of each debate, discussions were still prevalent throughout the course of each viewing.
“I never really watched presidential debates or anything like that before this so definitely having it accessible,” said Kaitlin Maciejewski ‘15. “Since now we’re at a voting age, it’s definitely good.”
Other students seemed to agree that the communal location was positive. “I think it’s helpful, because I have a TV in my room, but it’s a good location to come here,” said Alexis Elllis ‘16.
“I am really happy that the University puts on election related events, such as debate viewing parties, to get students involved,” said Jillian Delaney ‘15, chair of the College Democrats. “I watched one debate in the Lower Level BCC and it was definitely interesting to watch it with a group that was politically diverse versus with the College Dems. I believe it’s important to consider other views.”
Delaney noted the importance of these types of events on the overall community. “I would say that there are still a great number of students who aren’t politically aware, which is alarming considering how politics affect everyone’s lives,” she said.
Though an extremely informal estimate of student involvement in politics, there are currently 609 on-campus students who are registered to vote through the town of Fairfield, according to the Fairfield Registar of Voters.
In addition to the further events planned after the date, the election calendar will culminate in the night of Election Day itself on Nov. 6, in which students are invited to gather in the Lower Level BCC to hear the results of the presidential race. As well as an assortment of other refreshments supplied by the University, Connecticut vendor Super Duper Weenie will be present.
“Let’s make the BCC the place to be for election night,” said Carroll. “It’s only going to happen once in people’s college career that they will be on a campus like this to see what’s going to happen.”
Speaking of the last presidential election night four years ago, Carroll said, “There was a lot buzz. Students were talking about a lot of different things, all politically related about what would happen ‘if.’ So I hope that we can have that buzz again.”
So will students have to wait another four years to see events like this on campus? Not according to Delaney: “Why wait four years? I think students should get involved with local elections, which happen more frequently and impact us directly.
If students become more knowledgeable sooner it will increase the momentum for the next presidential election.”
Students can register to vote until Monday, Nov. 5 by going to the Office of the Voter Registrar located at 611 Old Post Road. Business hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The necessary registration form can be picked up from BCC 212.
Leave a Reply