Drexel voters make a difference
John Lloyd & Sean Miller
Issue date: 11/21/08 Section: Ed-Op
It would be uncontroversial to claim that "historic" has been the adjective most oft deployed to describe the Nov. 4 election, and there can be no doubt that we at Drexel University contributed to that history.
The campus-wide consortium of Drexel Votes 2008 was a very positive force in our community this year, and our sincere thanks as Drexel students goes out to the faculty and staff involved in this effort. They provided a backbone of advice and assistance to student groups working to register voters, held events and spread the good word of civic duty on campus. Drexel Votes 2008 maintained the non-partisan push that this campus has lacked in the past.
However, Drexel's impact on this election would not have been so strong without the time and energy of hundreds of student volunteers. After registering 2,100 students this fall, the Drexel College Democrats focused on field operations, working hand-in-hand with the Obama campaign. We were tasked with managing turnout operations in 10 of the 17 divisions in the 24th Ward, which covers Drexel, Powelton Village and much of Mantua. We ran canvassing and phone banking efforts in the weeks leading up to Election Day to identify residents who wanted to volunteer, needed a ride or assistance getting to the polls, or needed more information about Obama. Additionally, we helped a few dozen students arrange to vote with absentee ballots at their home addresses in Pennsylvania and other states.
All this led up to a massive get-out-the-vote operation on Election Day. Our hundreds of volunteers were primarily Drexel students, but we also had local residents, high school students and people from non-swing states, including a busload of students from the University of Delaware (CAA rivalries aside, thanks Blue Hens!). On Election Day we left door hangers and knocked on every door in our 10 divisions in the morning and the afternoon. We made over 4,000 phone calls to registered voters in the ward and had poll watchers and students to monitor and manage the lines at all of our polling places. We had food, stickers, buttons, signs and sound trucks with a dancing Mayor Nutter to keep students in line to vote.
The campus-wide consortium of Drexel Votes 2008 was a very positive force in our community this year, and our sincere thanks as Drexel students goes out to the faculty and staff involved in this effort. They provided a backbone of advice and assistance to student groups working to register voters, held events and spread the good word of civic duty on campus. Drexel Votes 2008 maintained the non-partisan push that this campus has lacked in the past.
However, Drexel's impact on this election would not have been so strong without the time and energy of hundreds of student volunteers. After registering 2,100 students this fall, the Drexel College Democrats focused on field operations, working hand-in-hand with the Obama campaign. We were tasked with managing turnout operations in 10 of the 17 divisions in the 24th Ward, which covers Drexel, Powelton Village and much of Mantua. We ran canvassing and phone banking efforts in the weeks leading up to Election Day to identify residents who wanted to volunteer, needed a ride or assistance getting to the polls, or needed more information about Obama. Additionally, we helped a few dozen students arrange to vote with absentee ballots at their home addresses in Pennsylvania and other states.
All this led up to a massive get-out-the-vote operation on Election Day. Our hundreds of volunteers were primarily Drexel students, but we also had local residents, high school students and people from non-swing states, including a busload of students from the University of Delaware (CAA rivalries aside, thanks Blue Hens!). On Election Day we left door hangers and knocked on every door in our 10 divisions in the morning and the afternoon. We made over 4,000 phone calls to registered voters in the ward and had poll watchers and students to monitor and manage the lines at all of our polling places. We had food, stickers, buttons, signs and sound trucks with a dancing Mayor Nutter to keep students in line to vote.
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