Holy Cross Involved in Election Day ’10 in Myriad Ways

Three alums win congressional campaigns

Many campus organizations worked together to ensure Holy Cross students cast their ballots in the midterm election. The Office of Orientation, Transition and Leadership and Student Programs for Urban Development led the efforts.

For weeks leading up to the election, resident assistants (students who work in the residence halls) distributed election material on their respective floors, information was accessible at a table set up on the ground floor of the Hogan Campus Center, and mass e-mails offered reminders about registration deadlines.

All completed voter registration material was mailed out at no cost to students. Postage expenses were handled by OTL and the Student Government Association.

From 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, an estimated 50 students were offered rides to the polls from Hogan, said Meaghan McDermott ’11, one of eight community organizers through SPUD.

Getting students who live outside of Worcester involved in the local election was a priority this year, said Marcy Kenney ’12, a leadership intern in OTL.

“As young people, I think it’s especially important to get our voice heard and to have engagement in our community since it offers us so much,” said Kenney, who is from Medfield, Mass.

About 200 students enrolled during the voter registration drive at Holy Cross, according to Brenda Hounsell Sullivan, director of OTL.

Other ways in which the Holy Cross community was involved in Election Day follows:

* On Election Day, Christina Kyriakos' 11 and McDermott were interviewed by New England Cable News/Channel 3 about registering students to vote and driving students to the polls. * The night of the election, Donald Brand and David Schaefer, professors in the political science department, spoke to radio station WCRN 830 AM. * A day after the election, David Schaefer, professor of political science, commented on the re-election of U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. * On Oct. 27, SPUD held a “fishbowl discussion” in Rehm Library. Worcester Mayor Joe O'Brien, Holy Cross professors, community partners, and student mediator Gordon Wong '11, discussed the Massachusetts ballot questions concerning state sales tax, alcohol tax and affordable housing. This event was co-sponsored by SPUD community organizers, Eco-Action, Latin American Student Organization, Women's Forum and Students World Wide. * All three Holy Cross alumni who were incumbents won their respective Congressional campaigns: Rep. Timothy Bishop ’72 (D-N.Y.), Rep. Peter Welch '71 (D-Vt.), and Rep. James Moran '67 (D-Va.).