F&M Votes
Established in 2004 under the auspices of CLAS, the F&M Votes Coalition organizes non-partisan voter education, registration and "get out the vote" drives, and lectures designed to emphasize the importance of active citizenship. As a place where the College community can connect liberal education to social and civic engagement, CLAS was the natural home for F&M Votes.
Born from history professor Van Gosse's dedication to register students in his classes to vote, F&M Votes has gained momentum over the past three years, registering more than 1500 students between 2004 and 2006 in drives fueled by the energy and commitment of students, professional staff, and faculty.
According to government professor Stephen Medvic, a fellow founder of F&M Votes, "It's difficult to find something that can galvanize the interest of different groups on campus, but [F&M Votes] has done it. It doesn't matter what your field or your beliefs are--everyone agrees that voter registration and voter turnout are important." This shared belief has attracted a wide variety of Coalition members, breaking the usual barriers erected between partisan groups.
As F&M Votes developed its non-partisan goals, Gosse stressed the continued involvement not of only of Democrats and Republicans, but of the entire campus community as well. "We wanted to create an organization that was open to everyone and that also made them equally responsible," said Gosse of the Coalition's membership base.
Beyond the simple desire to "get out the vote" through registration and voter education, the Coalition has also participated in large-scale, election-oriented activities. In 2004, DebateWatch, sponsored by CLAS and conducted in partnership with the Floyd Institute for Public Policy, collected the opinions of more than 80 students prior to the televised debate between John Kerry and George Bush. Participating students watched the debate together in the Roschel Performing Arts Center and used laptops to answer the same questions immediately following the debate. This innovative method of data collection, used by Medvic and Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research, for scholarly research, ultimately gauged the effectiveness of presidential debates on public opinion. The event garnered national media coverage, landing on the pages of newspapers from Miami to Los Angeles.
In 2008, while the country geared up for the high-stakes elections, F&M Votes pounded the pavement as early as move-in day to register first-year students. However, the greatest challenge of the Coalition is to motivate students to participate in Lancaster's municipal elections, reinforcing the ethos of the organization: active citizenship is important no matter how small - or big - an election might seem.
by Kristen Evans '07, Franklin & Marshall, Autumn 04 / Photos by Marcy Dubroff
