Report from Delta Digital News Reporter Jerry Burton.
Despite political contrast, civic engagement remains a priority for students.
America is often cited as being more divided than ever. With the presidential election drawing near, political discourse is heating up, and it may seem like neither party can agree on anything. Despite this apparent schism, Arkansas State University students across the political divide agree that civic engagement is vital, irrespective of political affiliation.
Hunter Redburn, a junior radiologic sciences major from Saint James, Missouri, said everyone who can vote should vote, regardless of where their vote goes.
“I will never tell somebody that you can’t or shouldn’t vote because I think regardless of who you support or what you do, voting is your right, and I will never try to take that right away from you,” Hunter Redburn said.
Chris Smith, a senior history and communications studies double major from Cabot, Arkansas, agreed with Redburn.
“I definitely value civic engagement, voting, researching, and learning about candidates more than just party loyalty,” Smith said. “Truly, I’m just happy when people vote, regardless of how they vote, I’m just happy they do it.”
Redburn is the president of Students For Life, an anti-abortion student organization. He said his morals most closely align with the Republican party. Smith is the president of the A-State Young Democrats. She said she most closely aligns with the Democrat party. These two students are opposed politically, but both agree that voting, one of the most active forms of civic engagement, is imperative.
Cameron Wimpy, an associate professor of political science, said these students’ encouraging people to vote, regardless of who they vote for, is an interesting situation that challenges common media coverage.
“There are a lot of discussions out there about one side wanting to get more people to vote and the other side wanting to get fewer people to vote; specifically, Democrats want to have, for example, undocumented migrants voting, and Republicans want it to be more strict. That’s the argument the media often makes,” Wimpy said. “Here you have student groups who advocate for issues, but above that, they’re participating and being part of the process, irrespective of what position you take, because they don’t know how you’re going to vote.”
Lily Redburn, vice president of Students For Life, said she does not want anyone to discourage her from voting, so she won’t put anyone else in a similar position.
“I think it has to go both ways. If a Democrat saw me voting Republican, would I want them to somehow discourage or prevent me from voting? Absolutely not,” Lily Redburn said. “I should not impede somebody’s ability to vote one way or the other. That’s the beauty of this country; we all get to have our own ideas.”
Students outside political student organizations also agree that civic engagement is a priority.
Jaden Holley, a sophomore social work major from Brooklyn, said civic engagement is important because it allows citizens to influence the direction of their country.
“Some people vote for Trump, some vote for Kamala, and it determines our future. It ultimately solidifies our rights and our process towards equality,” Holley said. “It is one of the most important things we can do as United States citizens.”
Isaiah Wallis, a first-year musical theater major from Harrison, Arkansas, said civic engagement is especially important among students because they tend to vote less than older adults.
“The majority of voters, especially on the local level, tend to be on the older side of life, like middle-aged and elderly,” Wallis said. “Because of that, you do not get the voice of younger generations, which is very important, especially regarding how quickly technology and culture is changing.”
Leaders from both the A-State Young Democrats and Students For Life organizations criticized party allegiance. Smith said remaining strictly loyal to a party stifles research into other candidates who may have better policies.
“If you just stick to your party, you’re not engaging civically; you’re just staying loyal to a party that will tell you what to do instead of encouraging you to learn about other candidates,” Smith said.
Hunter Redburn said he doesn’t think pledging allegiance to a particular party is productive. “I think many people are almost obsessed with party allegiance,” Hunter said. “You actually need to do your research on candidates, on party stances and make your decision based off that.”
Hunter Redburn and Lily Redburn said they vote according to the candidate or issue that aligns closest to their morals, derived primarily from religion.
“My moral compass is the Bible, and either it aligns with that, or it doesn’t,” Lily Redburn said. “Other people may not have that moral compass, but they still base their morals in something else.”
Smith said collectivism is a value she considers when going to the polls. When someone votes, they are not only voting for themselves but also their community.
“When you go into the polls, I think not only should you think for yourself and what you’re aligned with but think about your neighbor, the dude who lives across the street from you and the guy who lives 10 minutes away from you.”
Hunter Redburn, Lily Redburn, and Smith have different morals when considering how to vote. Nonetheless, they agree that morals play a major role in voting and respect that other people may not share their same values. While they don’t value civic engagement in all the same ways, all three students agree that disagreements are healthy. Hunter said he thinks citizens have lost the ability to have civil debates with people or groups with opposing views.
“I think that dialogue is never a bad thing. I think disagreement fuels progress, and without disagreement, we would never get anywhere,” Hunter said. “There have to be two sides to every story.”
Although Smith also said the lack of civility in politics is a problem, she said it is not new. The Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, and the 2000 presidential election are examples of periods when the country was divided and civic discussion was low.
While Lily Redburn and Smith agreed civic disagreements can be productive, they said compromises cannot always be reached. Lily Redburn said she feels strongly about abortion and doesn’t see an avenue where she could compromise without betraying her morals, while Smith said she is not flexible in her stance toward transgender rights. Even so, Smith said people should interact with others they oppose. She said difficult conversations are the most important and lead to a more informed population.
“If I have one idea and everyone agrees with me, how do I know if my idea has a flaw? If someone isn’t there to point that out and disagree with my idea, then nothing would ever get done,” Smith said.
Hunter Redburn said that even though someone might strongly disagree or even hate another’s stance, they should still treat them respectfully and kindly.
“I hate abortion, I think abortion is evil, and I think that what you stand for could be evil, but that doesn’t change the way I view or treat you as a human being,” Hunter Redburn said. “I think having a civil conversation is ultimately way more important than anything else.”
Wimpy said civil disagreement is a part of participating in a healthy democracy.
“We should be able to agree that we win some, we lose some, we come up with better ideas, better candidates, and do better next time,” Wimpy said.
Students from both organizations also had similar strategies for increasing civic engagement. Hunter Redburn said candidates or representatives engaging in civil debate allows potential voters to engage with both parties or sides of an issue equally and make an informed decision.
“I think it is much more productive and effective when you can watch these two ideas go head to head and, with logic and reason, you can see which one makes more logical sense with how we want to move forward in the country,” Hunter Redburn said.
Wimpy said education and cultivating interest are necessary to increase young adults’ civic engagement.
“I think more programming around what’s going on in the world would help, and that can’t just come from political science classes,” Wimpy said. “It needs to be things that students organize, whether guest speakers or voter registration drives.”
Smith said increasing civic engagement requires showing that engagement works and can be productive. She said showing productive political conversations, such as the recent vice presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz, lets citizens know that politics isn’t supposed to be filled with disrespectful fights and constant bickering.
“Because that idea has circulated so much now, a lot of people have started to have large screaming matches of their own,” Smith said. “So if we shine light on productive conversations actually happening and we highlight those more then the media starts to encourage it more and then we find that the people themselves are doing it more.“
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