Candid Conversations: Why is Voting Important?

October 29, 2020

by Greg Abazorius

From left: Allison Lange, Nicole Price, Lauren Creamer, Kristen Rosero and Courtney Wright

Confusing deadlines. Mail-in vs. absentee ballot debates. Last-minute Supreme Court decisions. Voting during a pandemic. If civic engagement in 2020 has felt overwhelming to you, you’re not alone.

To help sort through some of the noise, we spoke with faculty and staff about ways to get involved and stay involved, why voting is so important and how optimism ultimately wins the day.

The following are excerpts from a discussion with Nicole Price, vice president for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Allison Lange, assistant professor of history; Kristen Rosero, associate professor of political science; Courtney Wright, associate director for neighborhood relations; and Lauren Creamer, assistant director of CO-OPS + CAREERS.

This two-part feature is part of a series entitled "Candid Conversations," roundtable discussions hosted by the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in collaboration with the Marketing and Communications Department. Each will focus on a topic connected to diversity, equity and/or inclusion. [Find Part II here]

Courtney Wright: I think students that were raised in Boston or other cities are very politically engaged in a way that I wasn't exposed to as a youth. I think organizations like Sociedad Latina, Hyde Square Task Force, they have this whole civic engagement facet of their work. On the other side of that, some people are apathetic. I think not having a ton of exposure to [social sciences]…I don't know if that makes them the most inclined.

Kristen Rosero: I'll say I have had this conversation with students throughout the year since I've started teaching. And I've definitely seen a shift within the last four years. In 2016, I co-taught a class on the election called “Indecision 2016.” We did real-time analysis of the election as it was happening and, for such a crazy election, a lot of the students weren't really engaged.

Rosero asked students in that class to create documentaries by interviewing other Colleges of the Fenway students. What she found dismayed her.

Kristen Rosero: Those documentaries were depressing because most of them came with a theme that basically the students didn't care, they didn't see it as affecting them. They didn't see there was any difference to make and that there was no big distinction between the candidates.

But she has seen a major difference among her “Indecision 2020” students.

Kristen Rosero: I now have students who are registering to vote, they’re going out and voting early. They’re sharing that news with the class, talking about how it’s so important.

Greg Abazorius: Do you think people care now because things are in the news more and students are talking about them, or because certain policy shifts in the last four years have affected them personally?

Kristen Rosero: There's definitely been a lot in the news, but I think it's also been a matter of how closely students are paying attention to it. And some of that has been a function of the evolution of social media too, where I think now it's almost harder to avoid. And I think with issues like climate change and LGBTQ rights, those are things that this younger generation, they just see that as there's no debate there, this is just something that should be. And so when they see policies that go against that, I think they really are like, wait a minute, this isn't right, and they move on that.

Allison Lange: There’s this divide between students who are disengaged and some of them have suggested to me that there is so much going on and so much fake news, and they have this very deep lack of trust in any sort of system. And yet, as Kristen noted, I have noticed a significantly greater understanding of what they’re learning in their history class and what they’re seeing in the present.

Greg Abazorius: There certainly seem to be moments in time when you feel like society is just sort of existing, but then there are other moments—like this one—that you know will be written about in the history books. You know that you're living through something important.

Allison Lange: Some of these practices from the late 19th century—the rise of Jim Crow laws, the rise of Native American boarding schools that were effectively trying to erase an entire culture—I have never seen the kind of engagement that I've had this semester and recognition that this is a longer conversation. Certainly, as a historian, I do see what's happening now, the debates about who gets to be an American and what that gets to look like as being part of a much longer conversation.

As a youth in New York, Nicole Price learned about the Civil Rights marches of the 1960s on a macro level in class. As she grew up, her parents shared more of their personal history with her. She heard about her father taking part in those marches, about how dogs were sicked on him.

Nicole Price: Civic engagement was just instilled as a way of life. I didn’t know for a long time that there was a word for it, more that it was just what you do. If there are problems or concerns that you have, you don’t dwell on them too long, you think about solutions. What can we do to bring about change? For me, I couldn't see how I could live my life with the advantages that I've been given because of what [my father] had done, and others like him, and not be involved.

Courtney Wright and Lauren Creamer grew up in politically active families, but became more involved in civic action as they grew older.

Courtney Wright: My parents always voted and I was always interested in politics from a personal level. I did the close-up government program. Me and one other student fundraised and went to D.C. the morning after our senior prom and got to meet our elected representatives. I also did Model UN. I was able to have certain experiences, but I began to realize that not everyone has that kind of access to elected officials. And I think I went to college with some of the viewpoints of my parents. Then through studying and becoming a first-generation college student, I realized a lot of the things that I had just been following along with were because of others.

Lauren Creamer: Growing up, I was fairly disengaged politically. We voted in my family, but that was about it until 2016. That election really changed how I view my responsibilities as a private citizen, and using my skills of relationship-building and influence to get the people in my life to pay attention to what's happening both at the national and local levels. I recommend people follow city councilors on social media. That is one area I feel strongly that they can engage in immediately, as they continue to make real-time decisions about our city daily.

Nicole Price: I think that there are many places you can point to where if you do become civically engaged, or if you do vote, that change has happened. Most of us generally—at least I can speak for myself—are impatient. We want things to happen right now. But it's a marathon. There are lots of hills and valleys and turns and twists in a marathon, but you can win. Even if you just start to look locally and then expand a little bit more.

In part 2, we’ll explore ways that people have been traditionally discouraged from voting and areas where there is hope, as well as talk about ways to stay engaged long after the presidential election.

For further information and insights, please see the following links:

Resources for voters:

Vote Smart – Research candidates at all levels.
Vote 411 – Find out what and who is on your ballot

Voter turnout:

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there is a shortage of poll workers for this year’s election. If you are interested and feel comfortable doing it, here are several resources for volunteering: