Engaging in the democratic process

As we navigate these early weeks of the fall semester, I cannot help but recall my own experience as a first-year student at the University of Iowa. Having come from a small town with only a few thousand people, I remember navigating those early weeks, eyes wide, taking in all the new classes, making new friends, and hearing totally new perspectives and ideas. Each new classmate, professor, and advisor that I met offered unique perspectives on issues of the day and different life experiences that informed their positions and opinions. University life gave me the opportunity to take it all in – to read, talk, listen, and think. 

And during that first semester on November 4, 1980, I had my first opportunity to vote and it was a presidential year.  I admit I found the experience exhilarating — and I have strongly advocated for participation and engagement in the democratic process throughout my career as an educator. 

When I addressed the incoming Wake Forest first-year class last month, I shared my story with them – and encouraged those who, like me, are eligible for the first time in their young adult lives to engage and participate, to learn about the issues, and most importantly, to register and to vote. I want to extend that encouragement to our community. To all who are eligible to participate in the electoral process this November, we have a responsibility to make our voices heard, while also continually educating ourselves on the issues at stake in this election locally, across our respective states, and nationally. 

Wake Forest offers support and nonpartisan programming through the Office of Civic and Community Engagement, and specifically through the Deacs Decide initiative. Deacs Decide is a collaborative, campuswide project that aims to increase student voter registration and turnout, offer opportunities to explore different perspectives on key issues, and build a broader understanding of the ways our democratic institutions function. Our Wake Forest community, through the Deacs Decide program and through our university-wide commitment to civil discourse and academic freedom, can work together to increase our collective ability to engage in constructive and critical discussion. Those discussions can inform our decisions as individuals and as a university, as we strive to live up to our motto. 

I believe in the importance of exercising our right to vote, and that right should empower each of us to think deeply about the ways in which we participate and engage. And it’s not just about selecting a president — though that is important! — there are state and local races on every ballot, and the outcomes of those races impact each of us and the communities in which we live and work. 

I hope each of us will engage with discernment and compassion this election season. Though we are 40 days from November 5, now is the time to commit to participating with purpose in the institutions that shape our lives and the lives of others.