With the 2024 presidential election approaching on Nov. 5, political student organizations on Drexel University’s campus have prepared students to vote and provided opportunities to discuss various issues. Students shared their personal thoughts on the election and the issues that student voters should be paying attention to when casting their ballot.
On campus, student organizations are only allowed to “promote non-partisan voter education” and activities “should not imply that the institution embraces or is committed to any partisan political position or point of view,” according to an email from Senior Vice President Brian Keech sent on Oct. 2.
With these regulations in mind, Drexel Democrats has focused their recent efforts on helping students establish a voting plan.
Explaining the purpose of Drexel Dems, Necati Aslan, a senior global science and communications student and president of the organization said they want to “get the student vote out, get as many people out to vote as possible [and] make sure our voices are heard, regardless of ideology…We also try to foster an environment where we can talk about different policies and different things going on in the news.”
Similarly, Jason Check, senior finance student and president of Drexel University College Republicans, explained DUCR’s mission on campus: “Our goal is to just provide an outlet for forward thinking students to talk [about] any sort of politics… We typically align more on the conservative side, but we like to bring in counter arguments and we are always talking about issues from both angles.”
Speaking for Drexel Dems, Aslan claimed, “We’re not allowed to support any candidates.”
“Personally, outside of the club, I’m supporting Harris and Democrats up and down the ballot,” Aslan continued.
According to Check, DUCR “doesn’t actually endorse any candidate, and that’s just so we can have open and clear policy discussion.”
“Personally, I’m obviously supporting the Trump-Vance campaign, as well as the Dave McCormick campaign… You could also talk about Dave Sunday for attorney general and Stacey Garrity for treasury,” Check added. “Obviously you can probably tell most of our members support those.”
Contrastingly, senior physics major and Vice President of Drexel Socialists Yan Burets said, “There’s really only two candidates in this election…and we don’t support either.”
“The goal of [Drexel Socialists] is really to find students who are discontent with the state of the world, with capitalism…and we want to arm them with Marxist ideas…and help them get organized and join the systematic fight against the system,” Burets said.
Additionally, Drexel Socialists aim to connect issues happening on campus, such as low enrollment and subsequent budget cuts, “to the broader issue of capitalism…[and] explain that the system is in complete crisis,” Burets claimed.
“One of our slogans is ‘Neither party represents the working class.’ Both of these parties are parties of billionaires, and no matter who is elected, it will just keep getting worse,” Burets continued. “We need to fight for a working class alternative.”
Aslan, Check and Burets each listed several issues that they deem important for student voters to consider.
“A lot of volunteers I speak to are concerned about democracy and the dangers that can come with a Trump win, as well as a variety of other issues like…climate change, fighting for the middle class [and] reproductive rights,” Aslan stated.
On the other hand, Check mentioned the economy, immigration and national debt.
“By the time [Drexel freshmen] graduate, they’re going to have to live in the economy that we live in,” Check stated. “We all want to graduate and obviously find jobs and that’s why the economy is the number one issue.”
“Also, we are heavily worried about the illegal immigration issue at the southern border… [and] our national debt,” Check added. “We wish both parties were talking about how we’re going to curb the deficit of the US…, which has been ballooning under both administrations.”
“Regardless of policy, in my personal viewpoint… Harris across the board will fight more for middle and working class people,” Aslan stated. “She’s going to fight for people’s rights to abortion access, and she’s going to fight to help working middle class people to protect democracy. Regardless of which issue they’re [talking] about, the Harris campaign is going to address it more properly than the Trump campaign.”
“One of the elephants in the room [is] critics saying that, ‘Oh, Republicans never want to talk about abortion,’” Check said. “I think talking about abortion is very important…Donald Trump has come out many times and said he does not support a national abortion ban.”
Listing several issues students should care about, Burets said, “There’s a mental health crisis…, an environmental crisis…, alienation, nobody can afford anything and it’s getting worse, inflation is rising [and] we’re sending billions overseas instead of investing it into infrastructure or SEPTA.”
“They can make all kinds of promises…but we’ve heard it many times before,” Burets said. “These promises never get accomplished.”
Before the election, Drexel Dems will do “dorm storming, which just…[helps] students know their polling location and…answer any questions they have about voting,” according to Aslan.
DUCR is working on planning an Election Day event, which may include a Zoom call for members to socialize while receiving data from counties throughout Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, Drexel Socialists are preparing for protests after the election “if Trump gets elected,” Burets said.
“On the [2016] election night, thousands of Philadelphias came onto the street…spontaneously, so we’ll definitely prepare for that scenario,” Burets stated. “And if Kamala is elected, there will probably be some time before social unrest, but it won’t be long.”
“No matter who’s elected, it’s going to get worse. So we need to break through this pragmatism, this short term thinking: ‘Oh, I’m going to vote and then we’ll see what happens,’” Burets said. “We need to understand that time doesn’t stop after the election and the fighting will continue.”
“It’s not an election that we can afford sitting out,” Check said. “Even if you’re going to vote opposite me… still vote…It’s the most patriotic thing we can do.”
“It’s one of the most important rights that’s afforded to us as us citizens under the constitution,” Check continued.
“If you haven’t yet, go out and vote. There’s a lot at stake,” Aslan said. “Practically every issue can be impacted by the outcome of the election…and it’s important that young voices are heard.”