With the Democratic and Republican National Conventions taking place in the Midwest this summer, University of Chicago students had the unique opportunity to learn about the political process first hand.
As part of treks through UChicago’s Institute of Politics, they earned valuable perspective by taking in the conventions in myriad ways—from meeting with elected officials to interning with media organizations to mobilizing voters to sitting on the convention floor.
“What you see on the floor is just the tip of the iceberg of what’s happening—state delegations are meeting with their elected officials, there’s a lot of fundraising going on, a lot of meetings behind the scenes on strategy,” said Heidi Heitkamp, director of the Institute of Politics and a former U.S. senator. “This is an opportunity for students to see it from the ground up, not just on television.”
DNC in UChicago’s backyard
At the DNC in Chicago, the IOP hosted Youth VoteFest events in collaboration with the Students Learn, Students Vote Coalition. Students learned how to build voting coalitions in their hometowns, engage voters across partisan divides and how to run voter education drives in their communities.
“The youth vote is the sleeping giant in the United States political arena, and if we want to be taken seriously as a voting bloc, then we have an obligation to start showing up to the polls,” said Emily Morgan, a student at the Harris School of Public Policy. “What that means is that it can’t just be me and my friends—it has to be everybody and everybody’s friends.”