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Morningside Gets Ready for Busy Political Season

It’s October of an even year and that means many Americans are getting ready to head to the polls and many politicians are heading down the homestretch of a long campaign season. The students and faculty at Morningside College are likewise gearing up for one of the biggest non-athletic time periods of the school year.

One of those busy faculty members is Dr. Valerie Hennings, a political science professor and the director of the Colonel Bud Day Center for Civic Engagement. 

For Hennings, this political season started at the beginning of this summer when the Day Center and 11 other students created a statewide opinion poll. But, it wasn’t a typical “horse race” poll, rather a poll that focused on policy issues.

“We asked questions that we thought Iowans would be curious about and those questions were based off of what the students found interesting, as the faculty advisor I helped with question design and survey methods but when it comes to the substance of what they would ask about, that came from the students,” Hennings said.

Another student-led project on campus is the Campus Election Engagement Project. Its purpose is to educate college students who are eligible to vote, and get them registered for the “Get out the Vote” Initiative which aims to educate and register college students eligible to vote. For Dr. Hennings this is very important. “For so many students on college campus this is often their first election so making sure people know where they’re going and what they need to do,” Hennings explained.

Along with all the student-led initiatives on campus there are many other political events happening on campus, from a J.D. Scholten rally a few weeks ago to an Iowa Gubernatorial Debate tomorrow. Gov. Reynolds and Mr. Hubbell will be debating ahead of their election in November. This event takes part on campus and is a great opportunity for students and citizens to know who they are voting for and what they believe.

This is a great opportunity, Dr. Hennings says, for students to be engaged on campus in the upcoming elections. Student engagement in elections, especially in the midterms, is known to be not evident on most campuses. Dr. Hennings says, on the Morningside campus, this is far from the truth, “I think that our students our very engaged… I would argue that the myth that students are not engaged is just not true.”

She goes on to say, “these students [at Morningside] are very engaged and they see what’s going on, they care.” She does however have one suggestion for the campus of Morningside to improve their political education, “what I would like to see more is providing more tools and educational opportunities beyond the classroom, which is something we are working to do.”

When it comes to politics on Morningside’s campus there has always been a history of involvement from last election’s presidential candidate appearances to alumni who have gone into the realm of politics. This fall may feel different politically, but those of us who know Morningside’s rich history, know that this just another October month in an even year.

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