CMU College Dems Showcase touches on importance of youth voters
Joan Brausch remembers a time when her two children could pay for their college education on nothing more than a part-time job at Burger King and small student loans.
That was 20 years ago.
Today, she’s running for the 98th District seat in the Michigan House of Representatives, hoping she can discuss education reform during the campaign.
“If we want to have a successful state, if we want to have a successful job market the state has to put up,” Brausch said. “Put up, or shut up.”
Like the 11 other candidates who made an appearance Monday at the Bovee University Center Rotunda, Brausch’s ultimate goal was to get the word out about who she is and to reach out to voting age college students.
Hosted by the Central Michigan University College Democrats, the candidate showcase gave students a chance to meet with Democratic candidates for 2014 and register to vote.
Candidates in attendance included Fred Sprague, Jeff Holmes, Garrett Arwa and Jon Hoadley. Much like Brausch, candidates who spoke on the podium Monday night talked about education reform and taking back the State House.
Arwa touched on the importance of mobilizing younger voters and getting them more active in the voting sphere.
“You saw what happened in Scotland, (their election) had like an 80 percent turn out,” Arwa said. “If 80 percent of students voted, if 80 percent of people under 35 voted, do you think (government officials) would listen?”
He also discussed the importance of teaching young voters that their voices through an election could affect issues like women’s rights, economic reforms and education reforms.
Sprague also spoke about education reform, and how it relates to the average CMU student. As a CMU alumn, Sprague said he feels that students bound by loans and debt run the risk of becoming “surfs to a capitalistic system."
“State support for our public university has plummeted,” Sprague said. “When I went to Central, the state support was in the 70 percent. Now it’s in the teens. Who’s paying the difference?”
Also present at the event was keynote speaker, State Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing). She was the first woman to lead a caucus in the Michigan Senate. Her speech for the night touched on the important points of women’s rights issues, cuts to education spending and the importance of the Democratic vote.
“There is enormous need for (womens') voices to be in the process (of voting)– ” Whitmer said. “And for my female friends who are even toying with the idea of running, I encourage you to run. It’s hard, but it’s so important.”
In order to be able to vote in the November election, individuals must be registered by Oct. 6. Students are eligible to register to vote at CMU.
To be eligible to vote, people must be a U.S. citizen, a Michigan resident, at least 18 years of age and not incarcerated on election day for a felony or a misdemeanor.
Registration papers can be found at http://cmuvote.cmich.edu/.
