OPINION: Democrats Discuss — Execs reflect
The following article reflects the opinions and views of the authors and does not represent the thoughts of the Ohio University College Democrats.
This is a submitted column. Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.
Elanor Skees is a junior majoring in political science. She is the current Ohio University College Democrats president.
Throughout this year, I have constantly been amazed to be both a member and the president of Ohio University College Democrats (OUCD). This organization has constantly been a source of pride for me and our members.
With the pandemic, campaigning for something like a presidential election seemed as though it would be impossible, but our members were dedicated and did incredible work remotely.
Many OUCD members started volunteering for their local county parties. As an organization, we advocated and shared resources to get people registered to vote and become informed on the issues and candidates in their area. We continued to host local Athens candidates and phone banks to build connections and reach voters across the state.
Our Tuesday meetings had consistent members attending them, where we covered hard but important topics facing our generation and country. We also hosted game nights, which helped us to connect in a different way than our typical meetings and facilitated further connections between members.
Our members connected and built new friendships, despite the distances between us all. These friendships are bringing excitement for — hopefully — in-person meetings next year.
I am also excited about our new executive board. I know that everyone elected is dedicated to this organization and wants the best for its members. While I will not be on the executive board this coming school year, I know they are going to be innovative.
To our seniors: Thank you for all of the time and energy you have put into this organization over the years. We are honored to have had you as members of this organization, and we wish we could celebrate your graduation with you. We are wishing you the best of luck and are looking forward to seeing all the amazing things you will do in the future. We hope that you will come back and say hello from time to time to see the amazing things that this organization will do.
OUCD is so special to me and many others. I am excited to see where it will go next year and beyond. Thank you to all of our members.
Grant Perry is a sophomore double majoring in geography and political science. He will be the president of the Ohio University College Democrats next school year.
I am beyond excited to serve as OUCD’s president next academic year. After a difficult year of online meetings and campaigning, we are all very excited to resume some in-person activities in the fall. As an executive board, our goals are simple.
We want to collaborate with other campus organizations to mobilize students on political issues that we feel passionate about. We plan to engage our members and the larger Ohio U and Athens community and to bring in speakers from around the state that are experts in their field. We also hope to lay the groundwork for the local 2021 elections and the 2022 midterms.
COVID-19 has drastically changed how we view campaigning and mobilization efforts. In a post-COVID world, we have to adapt to the changing environment.
With the help of our wonderful community and my fellow executive board members, we hope to establish a bold and progressive plan to mobilize college students and the Athens community. The past year-and-a-half has been bleak, but we are ready to tackle the new world that we are going to face in the upcoming year. We urge you to find what you are passionate about, pursue it and, hopefully, join us in that process.