The fall 2008 presidential election inspired student voters to participate in higher numbers than ever before. Many of those student voters who registered in Illinois not only got a chance to impact national politics but Evanston politics as well. Lillian Cheng, head of NU PicKs, a new student group established by the Associated Student Government, said she aims to keep that momentum going.
“There was an unprecedented amount of student engagement and interest in politics,” Cheng said. “We should be taking a more active role in policies that shape us.”
Aside from a tentative Evanston mayoral debate in March, NU PicKs will begin an intense registration and get-out-the-vote campaign, said Cheng, a SESP sophomore. Several Evanston groups are planning candidate forums as well.
The 2009 Evanston election is scheduled for April 7, and the deadline for students to change their voter registration to the city is March 10.
NU PicKs is the successor of NU Decides, an ad hoc ASG committee that focused on increasing civic engagement and participation in the 2008 presidential election, said Jordan Fein, special projects chairman for College Democrats.
Turnout among registered voters in Evanston was about 79 percent for the presidential election last fall, while it was only about 26 percent in Evanston’s last mayoral and aldermanic election in 2005, according to the Cook County Election Department.
NU Decides encouraged students to register using their NU address if they were not from a swing state. The group registered more than 1,300 students in the fall, including absentee voters, said Allie Morales, co-founder of NU Decides. Of those voters, 500 registered in Illinois but it is unknown how many registered in Evanston, said Morales, a Weinberg junior.
Mayoral candidate Jeanne Lindwall, Weinberg ’71, said during her years at NU, student participation in Evanston politics was very low. She said she thought this was due to the higher voting age, which was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1971. However, even in the last mayoral election in 2005, Lindwall said student participation was “very minimal.”
“It’s important for students to be aware of issues facing the community,” Lindwall said. “Northwestern student involvement would be a lovely thing.”
NU PicKs is working alongside College Democrats and College Republicans to hold an on-campus debate forum with the Evanston mayoral candidates.
Although plans are not finalized, Fein said the event will likely take place March 4.
“This is an opportunity to re-energize and re-interest students in politics after Obama’s election,” said Fein, a Weinberg sophomore. “(Since then) there has been a drop-off in participation.”
But NU students have not always hidden in the shadows of local politics.
After the April 2005 municipal election, First Ward aldermanic candidate Judy Fiske filed a lawsuit against Ald. Cheryl Wollin (1st), NU and other city officials, alleging they engaged in a student “vote-buying scheme” to help Wollin win her seat. The lawsuit claimed dorms conspired to sway the election in Wollin’s favor by offering voting incentives, including priority housing assignments and free admission to a party. In August 2006, a federal judge dismissed the case, saying federal courts have no jurisdiction in the matter.
Although Cheng said she thought the relationship between NU and Evanston “is not very good now,” she’s optimistic.
“This is a chance to extend a hand and say, ‘We’re willing to help this community,'” she said.
Morales said she plans to vote in April and said she thinks other students should as well.
“What happens in local politics will affect Northwestern students one way or another,” Morales said. “We should pay more attention to what happens off campus.”
