Election rally urges students to vote — now
GREENSBORO — It was homecoming week, and voting was the last thing on the minds of N.C. A&T students.
But that didn’t deter Mitchell Brown. He and others attempted to register students to vote during a concert, comedy show and pep rally. They also went “dorm storming,” traveling to the dorms on campus to sign up students.
“We had to try,” said Brown, an A&T senior.
Brown and other student leaders expanded those voting efforts on Wednesday afternoon when they marched from the A&T campus to the Guilford County Board of Elections to vote early.
Not everyone who voted marched, but Brown estimated there were about 150 students who participated in the rally overall, most of them from A&T and Bennett College.
There also were students from other area colleges, including UNCG and Guilford College.
At one point, a line filled mostly with students — some with T-shirts that read “Join Me at the Polls” — stretched almost from one end of the hall to the other.
“Because I marched over here for an important cause, I’m going to stand until I vote,” said A&T freshman Amber Woodard, who was near the back of the line.
The Greensboro Collegiate Coalition co-sponsored the event. Brown, the coalition’s chairman, said the coalition comprises students from all the colleges in the city. He said the march was started three years ago.
There should be thousands of students voting in every election, Brown said, given the number of them in Greensboro. But he said that hasn’t been the case in past years.
Brown attributed some students’ apathy to believing their vote doesn’t count and to not being educated about how to register or the election issues, he said.
Tim Leisman, a Guilford College junior, said he’s had trouble getting his fellow students interested in local elections. One reason he cites is that many of them are out-of-state students.
“The energy hasn’t been high enough on Guilford’s campus because we have a lot of students who really care about national issues,” said Leisman, vice chairman of the coalition.
He said only two other Guilford students joined him at the rally Wednesday.
But Leisman said he’s hoping to change students’ attitudes and get more of them involved with local elections by inviting some of the candidates in the upcoming election to visit the campus.
Among the issues students who came to vote on Wednesday said they were most concerned about: building up east Greensboro, safety and making the city more economically viable so there will be jobs waiting for them when they graduate.
“College students do vote,” Brown said. “College students do care, and we are realizing that it’s not just a vote but a voice. And we need that voice to be heard.”
Contact Jonnelle Davis at 373-7080 or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com
Accompanying Photos
Photo Caption: Students from area colleges and universities cross S. Greene Street in downtown Greensboro en route to a rally at the old Guilford County Courthouse to vote and to register others to vote on Wednesday.
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