Campus organizations seek student participation in voting

Ceylin Arias/Asst. News Director
Stephanie Espaillat/Entertainment Director

Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton believes that initiating change in society can start here within our campus community as long as students take the initiative to be involved.

“We have to encourage our young people to get involved, to do something. There is something for everyone of you to do,” Fulton said. “That is something really important. It is not only to register to vote, but you have to get out and vote.”

Fulton, along with Gwen Carr, Eric Garner’s mother, and Geneva Reed-Veal, Sandra Bland’s mother, spoke to students Tuesday, Sept. 27, at a panel discussion on women in politics hosted by the Center for Women and Gender Studies.

The panel discussed the importance of participating in this year’s election cycle, which coincided with several other campus involvement efforts for students to start their civic engagement here on campus, including SGC-MMC’s Roar to the Poll.

“I want to tell you, the student, to continue what you are doing,” Fulton said. “Continue to make a difference, continue to be the change that we all want to see.”

Fulton told students that Trayvon Martin was 17 years old, he was racially profiled and was followed, chased and pursued because of the color of his skin.

“I want to let you know because a lot of people think it was because he had on a hoodie,” said Fulton. “It was not.”

Fulton suggested that involvement shouldn’t just happen during the the presidential election and that students should always be active active members of society.

“My son was shot down before I got involved. So he was down, and I stood up,” said Fulton. “I stood up as a mother. I wanted to make a difference, I wanted to make a change that we so desperately needed in this country.

“So it was important to me to do my part to make that change,” Fulton said.

During the panel discussion, SGC-MMC’s initiative to engage young student voters, Roar to the Poll, hosted its final event in the GC Pit.

Sabrina Rosell, SGC-MMC lobbying coordinator and a freshman majoring in international relations, expressed the need for Panthers to vote in the upcoming election.

“It is a very crucial year and as students, we should be engaged especially now since these are things that can affect our future,” said Rosell. “When we vote for who we want to represent us, we have to keep in mind that they’ll be impacting our daily lives, such as impacting us directly in whichever career we decide upon.”

Students were encouraged to register to vote or to update their voter address information with Engage Miami.

Attendees that signed up with SGA were offered a slice of pizza and had the opportunity to take pictures with an Uncle Sam and the Lady Liberty cardboard. Panthers also received a button from Engage Miami where they could fill in the blank as to why they were going to vote.

“This past event was a huge success as we had the opportunity to host an open event where we engaged so many students about the heart of our event and our vision. Engage Miami was registering students to vote as well as updating voter information,” said Rosell.

Victoria Patel, SGC-MMC student support coordinator and sophomore a major in criminal justice, echoed the same sentiment as Rosell about registering to vote.

“Only about 20 percent of college students voted in the last election. At the Roar to the Poll events, we saw a great turnout of students who were registered to vote and expressed why voting was important to them. We also had many students approach Engage Miami and register to vote,” said Patel.

According to Carolina de Almagro, SGC-MMC press secretary and sophomore majoring in nursing, the majority of students wrote that the reason they will vote is because “it is their future.”

According to Rosell, the Roar to the Poll series is part of a larger picture of state universities competing with one another with intentions of achieving the highest voter registration within their campus in the state of Florida.

“Our goal is set pretty high but with the partnerships that we have established with organizations on campus, I think we’ll have no problem of achieving our goal,” said Rosell.

During the event, the FIU community had the opportunity to celebrate National Registration Day, as well as express voter appreciation by doing so alongside SGC-MMC.

The day was centered on celebrating the efforts of Roar to the Poll series by registering as many Panthers as possible while getting ready to vote for the general election on Nov. 8.

Students were allowed to take photos at the photo booth station and to create their own buttons.

“It’s important for the FIU community to comprehend that what they’re voting for is not a person, but their future,” said De Almagro.