Issues that factor into a Marshall students’ vote span a wide range of topics, said a Marshall political science professor at the live taping of the “Us and Them” podcast on Wednesday, Sept. 4.
Marybeth Beller, the advisor for the National Political Science Honor Society, said during the taping that students are “deeper than a stereotype.”
Beller sat down alongside Shawn Schulenberg, another political science professor and the chair of the faculty senate, with “Us and Them” host Trey Kay to record an upcoming episode titled “What Is (or Isn’t) Motivating Young Voters in 2024?”
They covered topics from distrust of institutions to media influence to issues that young people are caring about most. The podcast began with Kay asking the audience, primarily consisting of students, to close their eyes and raise their hands in response to questions about whether they are planning on voting, if they believe themselves to be highly informed, where they get their news from, their faith in news sources, the role of the news and if they feel the candidates have a compelling vision that matches their hopes, dreams and visions.
The main discussion revolved around the question of what issues are concerning young people. The first section of the podcast consisted of Kay asking Beller and Schulenberg about their thoughts and observations of Marshall students.
Some of the topics discussed afterwards included climate change, school shootings and women’s rights. When describing young voters in the country as a whole, Schulenberg brought up statistics that showed a large increase in young voters between the ages of 18-24 that are planning on voting in the election in November.
The second portion of the taping engaged the students in the audience. Questions, comments, concerns and observations were brought up by a range of attendees, followed by facts, answers or other thoughts by the three panelists.
Many students agreed that they were experiencing or had seen trust in institutions diminish in themselves or their peers. They discussed traditional and social media, clickbait, unreliable representatives and political messages they didn’t believe would translate to office.
One student brought up her disappointment in political messaging on social media, mentioning she has been upset to see heavily biased posts that focus more on politicians’ personalities than their policies.
Some students said they felt excited to vote for Kamala Harris after Joe Biden stepped down. Another student shared their disappointment that politicians weren’t going to campuses to speak to students.
Many students expressed an overall lack of confidence in institutions and media as well as confusion about how to get involved in politics beyond the ballot box or how to get elected officials to care about the issues that are important to the electorate.
Olivia Andrew-Vaughan can be contacted at [email protected].
