Students engage with the democratic process
Read the full story by Caitlin Hayes in the Cornell Chronicle.
A number of groups and experiences at Cornell are committed to getting people to vote this November, including:
Cornell Votes
The nonpartisan student group, supported by the David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement, is mobilizing student groups by collaborating on events and providing voter registration training.
“It goes a long way when people see that you are just interested in their voice, that someone actually cares about what they think,” said Erik Lapidus ’27, a community engagement liaison for Cornell Votes.
Cornell Policy Group (CPG)
A student group and bipartisan think tank that allows students to engage in research and analysis so they can advocate for policy solutions on a range of topics.
“I’ve connected with people from all walks of life,” said Krislyn Michel ’27, a subject matter director for CPG. “It’s a special part of American politics—like, no matter what side you’re on, we all simply want what’s best for us and our communities.”
Immersive experience: Republican and Democratic National Conventions
“There are the scripted speeches at the convention itself, but then we had all of these conversations with people outside of that, where it was clear they had very different opinions and ideas than their party’s platform or nominee,” said Kathryn McGinnis, a doctoral student in public policy who accompanied six undergraduate students on the trips, which were arranged by the Institute of Politics and Global Affairs in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy.
Course: Taking America’s Pulse
The course, which is being taught on campus and at Cayuga Correctional Facility through the Cornell Prison Education Program, challenges students to design, conduct, and analyze a nationally representative survey.
“The class doesn’t have an inherent political focus,” said Professor Peter Enns, who teaches the course with Jonathon Schuldt, professor of communication in CALS and in the Brooks School and executive director of the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. “But we offer it in election years because there’s so much attention to polls around the election that we can use as a teaching tool. And the students are in a position to have original conclusions about this election, stemming directly from their interests.”
Read “Students look to cast their votes with enthusiasm – and nuance” by Caitlin Hayes in the Cornell Chronicle to learn more about these experiences and efforts.
