The INSIDER - Fall 2023

STUDENTS CELEBRATE NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION DAY

Texas College celebrated National Voter Registration Day with a student voter registration drive on the campus. Spearheaded by student leaders, the group partnered with the Smith County Elections Office, the League of Women Voters Tyler/ Smith County, the Gamma Omicron Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and the Tyler Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. to host the event. Aside from the reminder of their civic duty to vote, the activity registered a multitude of students to vote, as well as pro- vide information for the upcoming ballots.

“This upcoming election will be a constitutional amendment election, where we’re actually making changes to the Texas Constitution,” said JoAnn Hampton, community activist, former Smith County commissioner, and Texas College alumna. “It’s important to get our young people involved and registered to vote,” Hampton said. “They are our future. They need to understand that voting is a right and we need to try to maintain that right. In order to do that, we have to educate them on the issues that have been out there and how they im- pact their lives. We’re explaining to them what they need to do and what’s on there,” Hampton noted. “It’s important for them to know each one of those and how they will be impacted by it.”

Asia Brown, Texas College student and 2023-2023 Miss UNCF, receives guidance from a community volunteer as she registers to vote.

“We’re not in high school anymore,” said Roosevelt Williams, National Pan - Hellenic Council President for Texas College. “We don’t have our parents to advocate for us; we have to advocate for ourselves. If you don’t know the law or know what has changed, you’re going to be lost. We have a social responsibility to be engaged in the democratic process by voting.” “It is my job as a campus student ambassador, and as a young person and a peer to the students, to bring the awareness of voting responsibility on campus,” Williams said. “As a leader, I take it as a big responsibility to know what’s going on and advocate for us." Tashira Johnson, Texas College’s Student Government Association President, registered to vote for the first time on Tuesday. “I never thought about the importance of voting until I registered to vote,” she said. “It felt good to register and know that I can make my voice heard on election day.” Johnson feels many of her peers are at the age that it is important to be involved and informed politically. "This is our chance to stand up in a way, to be able to do something and be part of something,” noted Johnson.

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