Young voters on the move (continued)

STUDENT ACTIVISM can create headaches for the political parties, as Rhode Island Republicans found earlier this year, when the GOP group at Roger Williams University sponsored a "whites-only" scholarship. The move, which the organizers said was intended to spur debate about affirmative action, drew national media attention and pledges totaling $4000 from around the country.

But critics deplored the move, and the state and national Republican parties quickly condemned the scholarship, with the national party forbidding the Roger Williams Republicans from using the party’s official logos. Even the student who received $250 from the scholarship backed away from it, turning it over a relief fund for victims of the Station nightclub fire disaster in West Warwick.

Even now, the issue remains touchy. Patricia Morgan, state Republican chairwoman, notes the party does not charter the Roger Williams group, adding that the state college Republicans replaced their chair, Jason Mattera (who at the time headed the Roger Williams group), with URI’s Nathaniel Nelson.

Nelson says he understands that the Roger Williams group was trying to make a point, but he says it was ill-conceived. "It wasn’t the most politically savvy thing to do, especially in a state where Republicans don’t have a good presence," Nelson says. "It was the wrong thing to do at the wrong time."

At the same time — because media attention, like money, energizes the political process — the aftermath has meant more political discussion and activism at Roger Williams this fall, according to those on the campus. "In my view, students are more involved this year than in past years, in part because the college Republicans stirred the pot," says June Speakman, a professor of political studies at Roger Williams, who advises both Republican and Democratic student organizations.

"It woke the college Democrats right up — and I’m delighted at that," says Speakman, who estimates that about 60 students signed up for the Democratic group at the beginning of the semester, and a similar number for the Republicans.

On the night of the October 13 Bush/Kerry debate, the organizations sponsored theme dinners in a university cafeteria: a Texas-style food section for Bush Republicans, and a Massachusetts menu for Kerry Democrats. Speakman herself encourages students to be active in politics. One of her classes for political science students, "Campaigns and Elections," requires students to get experience in a real campaign — volunteering 10 hours of "field work."

THE IMPACT of college students in the outcome of the imminent presidential election remains unclear.

Morgan, the GOP party head, says students are mostly helping with local races, since both parties are taking for granted a Kerry win in Rhode Island. With Republican numbers low in the state, student volunteers are valuable, she says. "Every person who steps forward makes a difference, especially for our party," Morgan says. "We are the smaller party, and every ‘body’ who helps do one more thing, helps a candidate."

Magaziner is hoping for tangible results.

"If you add it all up, we literally logged thousands of hours in swing states for Kerry — where he has inched ahead," he says. "Some local races are incredibly close, and there aren’t a lot of other people with phone banks. We’ll see what happens, whether in at least one race we made a difference."

Darrell M. West, Brown’s top political expert, along with many others, thinks there is much more student interest this year. Two years ago, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean drew 30 students when he appeared at Brown. This year — after Dean had dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination — 850 showed up and Brown needed a second hall to seat the overflow. "There is a lot of intensity associated with the 2004 election," West says. "A lot of students are upset with the direction of the country, and feel Bush has put the United States on a disastrous foreign policy." But West says that as a political demographic, students do not get the attention of suburban mothers, senior citizens, and similar vote-rich groups.

One of the lasting impacts of this election season could be on the students themselves, especially if what they are experiencing personally carries over into the decades after they leave college.

"As we are getting older, my friends and I are become more politically conscious," said Cassandra Guglielmetti, 20, a junior at URI, who believes Kerry is more likely than Bush to oppose reinstatement of the draft.

Some of the Salve Regina University students who contributed to this story noted that some of what West described as "intensity" is reflected not only in organized political activities, but in students’ day-to-day lives. "I will remember how it got people so passionate about politics and their opinions," says junior Meghan Cook, of the 2004 election. And she says some of the election issues have become personal: "I have family and friends fighting in Iraq at the moment, and I’d like to see them come home as soon as possible."