The New York Times sponsors Vote UP for the upcoming presidential election
Mark Leibovich, New York Times Magazine correspondent, will vist UP as part of the Vote Up Program (Photo courtesy muckrack.com)
By Harry Blakeman, Staff Writer blakeman15@up.edu
With only months left until the presidential race, UP is starting a campus - wide voter awareness campaign to get students more involved. The program promotes voter turnout and engagement in current political issues and our system of government.
Vote UP, which started in 2004, was revamped to include more events and panels. This election, the program is sponsored by The New York Times, which provided a $1,500 grant.
Working with the Moreau Center for Service and Leadership, Student Activities and the political science department, the University will host a series of panels to discuss the election and the issues raised by the candidates.
Kicking it off, The Times will send reporter and Chief National Correspondent for The New York Times Magazine, Mark Leibovich to campus on Sept. 11. Leibovich will lead a panel titled "The Role of the Media in Today's Democracy" in Buckley Center Auditorium, and he will speak about his experience balancing his role as a member of the press and working with politicians.
Vote UP will also include student-led discussion by student groups including College Democrats, College Republicans, and MEChA. The groups will lead panels on a number of topics from women's issues to foreign policy. The departments of political science and marketing will also host panels.
The panel series will cover key issues from Catholic, academic and student perspectives. Additionally, Vote UP will host watch parties for presidential debates and election night.
Jeromy Koffler, director of Student Activities, hopes that the discussion on campus will encourage more students to be tuned in during the 2012 election. He knows that for many students, especially the freshman class, this will be the first election that they are eligible to vote in. Koffler said hosting Vote UP is the University's duty.
"We believe it's our responsibility as an educational institution," Koffler said. "We want students to be able to shape their future."
Professor Gary Malecha of the political science department said he hopes the program helps students realize the importance of the election.
"We want to make aware the severity of the issues," Malecha said.
However, both Malecha and Koffler stressed that the main goal of Vote UP is to promote voter awareness.
"Part of the mission of the University is to encourage students to take up good citizenship," Malecha said.
Vote UP will continue after the election with a panel to discuss the implications of the elected leader as well as the election's effects on the national discussion.
Sophomore Amanda Uyesugi, who has yet to vote in a presidential election, said she was excited UP is hosting a program about the election.
"It's really important that we all try to educate ourselves about politics - especially with the campus giving us this opportunity," Uyesugi said.
