A severe lack of political consciousness permeates campus, Boston University students said on Tuesday, citing an apparent lack of student voter turnout on Election Day.
About 40 Boston University students gathered in the Howard Thurman Center for an “Election Night Extravaganza” to debate and discuss student interest in politics and the importance of voting.
The discussion, hosted by a union of the biggest non-partisan student groups at BU, including Democracy Matters, the BU Roosevelt Institute, the Minority Association for Social Change and the Student Union.
When asked if they had voted that day, only six of the 40-some attendees at the event raised their hands.
Students voiced different reasons as to why voter turnout was low among attendees and members of the BU community.
College of Engineering junior Alex Whittemore said the fact that many students are not permanent Massachusetts residents affects their likelihood of voting.
“I think the biggest obstacle in terms of getting college students to vote is that we don’t really feel like we live here,” Whittemore said. “A lot of the laws that get enacted here in the Massachusetts don’t really directly affect me as much as if I was actually a full-time permanent resident here.”
Whittemore said he was also concerned with how difficult it is to vote in Boston.
“It’s God-forsaken hard to vote here,” he said. “Last year I went to what I thought was my polling place…only to realize that the side of Buswell Street that I lived on and the side of Buswell Street that I didn’t live on, literally across the street, are different precincts.”
Whittemore said he had to walk more than four hours and needed to provide proof of residency before finally getting to vote.
“I feel that faculty is very important,” added College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Nancy Vegas. “We spend most of our time in class and if we have the faculty telling us “go vote’ it would be very effective.”
CAS freshman Markiesha Ollison said she thinks voting is something that should be “constantly talked about” so students will want to vote.
“If we just keep the conversation going about things that we want to change, people would be more inclined to go and vote,” she said.
Attendees also agreed that technology is a good way to mobilize the youth to vote, as President Barack Obama did two years ago via Facebook and Twitter.
Representatives from the student groups said they were working with BU to provide an easy way for students to request letters from the university that could be used as proof of enrollment and residency.
James Boggie, a CAS junior and Union city affairs director, said that the goal of the student groups is to “make greater Boston the best place to live.”
“A lot of that has to do with civil engagement,” he said. “I think BU students are very active, but because it’s such a big campus, students tend to invest their time in fewer things.”
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