This past year has been a busy one for University of Wisconsin’s College Democrats. We hit the ground running in the fall, working rigorously to register students to vote around campus for the November election. By the time Election Day came around, our organization had registered more than 1,500 students, despite the confusing and constantly changing voter ID regulations. This incredible feat was entirely student-facilitated and executed, and showed the strength students and Democrats can have when we work together.
We showed the strength of working together again when we successfully elected UW senior and devoted College Democrat Zach Wood to the Madison City Council. He was sworn in earlier this month and will be advocating for students at City Hall each day he serves. We showed the strength of working together with numerous events we hosted and cohosted around campus to inform and facilitate dialogue among students about important issues, including a session about homeless issues in Madison, a training on how to be a positive LGBTQ ally and a cohosted panel on women’s health with the Campus Women’s Center, just to list a few.
Most recently, some College Democrats partnered with the Student Labor Action Coalition to put together an important sit-in outside of UW Chancellor Rebecca Blank’s Bascom Hall office to protest UW’s contract with Jansport because of its abuse of human rights.
We worked together to actively inform students and act on Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget cuts. After his campaign of touting the tuition freeze as a commitment to college affordability, the governor did a 180 after Election Day, proposing to cut $300 million to UW. This boxed in university administration, forcing massive out-of-state tuition hikes and likely increases for in-state students down the road.
It was humbling and encouraging to find out that 70 percent of Wisconsinites oppose the cuts, and this makes sense considering 753,000 Wisconsin residents are burdened with student loan debt and understand the importance of college affordability. Unfortunately, our College Republicans counterparts continue to support the governor and his budget, but I remain hopeful that once we start to see the effects of the cuts around campus that our friends across the aisle will join us in our fight for affordability and quality education.
Looking forward, we are already on the edge of our seats for the 2016 presidential election. We can’t wait to see what Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and any other future Democratic candidates will share with us about how to continue moving our country forward.
However, there is a lot of work to do between now and then. Activism and involvement does not start and end with presidential elections. Continuing relevant and important activism every day is imperative to living up to the progressive ideals of our campus. Getting involved with the Black Lives Matter movement, the fight to cut our contract with Jansport or calling your legislator to voice your concern about the UW System cuts are just a few ways you can make a difference on campus right now. Of course, coming to a College Democrats is always a great place to start!
The state of our organization is strong, and the next year will be an exciting one. There are no major state or national elections, but this gives us an opportunity to make more of an impact locally around campus and in Madison community. More involvement in movements around campus fighting for the rights of the homeless, marginalized students and Jansport workers in Bangladesh are very immediate issues. More advocacy for a quality and affordable education by pushing back against the unprecedented cuts to the UW System is on the horizon. All of these goals involve working together. When we work together, we show the strength that people coming together can have. We have a lot to accomplish and we hope that you’ll join us.
August McGinnity-Wake ([email protected]) is a freshman majoring in political science and economics.
Read the College Republicans’ Year in Review:
