New School’s Obama Supporters Hold First Meeting as Campaign Heats Up
As the Republican presidential campaign continues to pick up steam, some New School students are working to revive the spirit of President Obama's 2008 campaign in advance of next year's election. A student group affiliated with Obama For America (OFA), an organization that works with Obama supporters around the country to promote the campaign, held its first meeting on Wednesday, November 3.
The New School group, which has around a dozen members in total, is currently calling itself “New School Students for Barack Obama.” In the first meeting, the six attendees discussed ways to localize the campaign in order to attract students — no small feat at a school where many disdain traditional politics.
“We are planning to work with OSDA to get out the vote through voter registration drives,” the group wrote in an e-mail to The Free Press. “We hope to target Lang students, as there are many first-time voters in the freshmen class. We also plan to canvass and hold phone banks on campus to recruit and train volunteers so we can hit the ground running to get out the vote come January.”
In this, the moment of Occupy Wall Street, many students across the country feel disillusioned by the political establishment. Some felt down by the president, but said he was better than the alternative.
“I followed the last election and I was hopeful for Obama, but he hasn't done a lot,” commented Lang junior Alexa Riggs. “However, he has done better than a Republican would.”
However, Sonia Bhagat, an OFA fellow and GPIA student, and Emily Ingebretsen, the New School team leader, pointed to his recent “We Can't Wait” campaign, as well as an executive order capping loan repayment to 10 percent of a graduate's discretionary income, to rebuke those who claim that Obama has not done much. They also discussed the possibility of the group getting involved with Occupy Wall Street and expressing their support for the movement.
Organizers plan to continue the group beyond the upcoming election.
“We hope to create a sustainable organization where students will be able to come together to effectively advocate for political change,” they wrote in an email.
The group's organizers addressed the possibility of transforming the student group into New School Democrats after the election. However, some discussion sparked as to whether they wish to engage with partisan politics.
“I'd like to get to a place where we vote on issues and not political affiliations,” said Myrianne Clitus, a student senator from NSPE who also accepted a position as an officer at the meeting.
Clitus said that though she does not identify as a Democrat, she is a strong advocate of President Obama. Others agreed that the goal must be to build a movement that is not drawn along already-existing party lines and labels.
While the group plans to continue into the future, they have not yet worked out what that will look like. In the meantime, the students are organizing themselves and working on building a wider support base for the President in hopes that he will be re-elected next November.
Emily Ingebretsen, a second year student at GPIA and New School team leader for OFA, said that the goal was to keep students involved and organizing for political and social change.
“It’s not enough to just vote, cross your fingers, and hope change happens… if we want change we can make that happen,” she said.
The New School group, which has around a dozen members in total, is currently calling itself “New School Students for Barack Obama.” In the first meeting, the six attendees discussed ways to localize the campaign in order to attract students — no small feat at a school where many disdain traditional politics.
“We are planning to work with OSDA to get out the vote through voter registration drives,” the group wrote in an e-mail to The Free Press. “We hope to target Lang students, as there are many first-time voters in the freshmen class. We also plan to canvass and hold phone banks on campus to recruit and train volunteers so we can hit the ground running to get out the vote come January.”
In this, the moment of Occupy Wall Street, many students across the country feel disillusioned by the political establishment. Some felt down by the president, but said he was better than the alternative.
“I followed the last election and I was hopeful for Obama, but he hasn't done a lot,” commented Lang junior Alexa Riggs. “However, he has done better than a Republican would.”
However, Sonia Bhagat, an OFA fellow and GPIA student, and Emily Ingebretsen, the New School team leader, pointed to his recent “We Can't Wait” campaign, as well as an executive order capping loan repayment to 10 percent of a graduate's discretionary income, to rebuke those who claim that Obama has not done much. They also discussed the possibility of the group getting involved with Occupy Wall Street and expressing their support for the movement.
Organizers plan to continue the group beyond the upcoming election.
“We hope to create a sustainable organization where students will be able to come together to effectively advocate for political change,” they wrote in an email.
The group's organizers addressed the possibility of transforming the student group into New School Democrats after the election. However, some discussion sparked as to whether they wish to engage with partisan politics.
“I'd like to get to a place where we vote on issues and not political affiliations,” said Myrianne Clitus, a student senator from NSPE who also accepted a position as an officer at the meeting.
Clitus said that though she does not identify as a Democrat, she is a strong advocate of President Obama. Others agreed that the goal must be to build a movement that is not drawn along already-existing party lines and labels.
While the group plans to continue into the future, they have not yet worked out what that will look like. In the meantime, the students are organizing themselves and working on building a wider support base for the President in hopes that he will be re-elected next November.
Emily Ingebretsen, a second year student at GPIA and New School team leader for OFA, said that the goal was to keep students involved and organizing for political and social change.
“It’s not enough to just vote, cross your fingers, and hope change happens… if we want change we can make that happen,” she said.
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