Spring Break
Morgan +2 campaign gains momentum
Burkina Morgan & Shnatel Schloss
Issue date: 10/8/08 Section: Campus Life
On Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 the MSU +2 Campaign, a non-partisan voting initiative, hosted its first event in the University Student Center. Attending the event were representatives from Downtown Locker Room, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), The American Federation of Teachers, and Radio One's 92Q Jams. Among a steady flow of newly registered voters there were also many people looking for more information about the election.
During this time of conflict and social excitement leading into the election, some African-Americans reflect on the times in which they were unable to participate in this American right. Some remembered the many hardships, trials and tribulations they had to endure before they would finally earn the right in the mid-twentieth century. And now, numerous decades later, there are still 7-8 million African-Americans who did not vote in the past 2004 election. There are also an estimated 6 million people who are not currently registered to vote.
Renee Etoty, a Morgan State engineer student, took these matters seriously and decided to join the MSU + 2 Campaign, which compels Morgan State University students to register for the next election, however that's not all. The secondary purpose of the organization is to also to have those same students who took initiative to vote to encourage two other students to vote as well.
Michael Splleer, a representative from the American Federation of Teachers, drew people toward the MSU + 2 Campaign. As a first time visitor to Morgan State University and a twenty year participant in the voting process, he stated how impressed he was at the response of Morgan State students to the campaign. When asked why students are so enthusiastic about the 2008 election he said, "Barack Obama is addressing people who haven't made it yet. He has generated new voters by allowing them to have a voice for the first time."
Like Renee Etoy there are many students concerned about the upcoming election, one of which is Ramone Odone. Odone is currently a registered voter who is very apprehensive about the upcoming election, though he is very passionate about the need for change American society. "It's not about getting numbers if there are no results," says Odone.
During this time of conflict and social excitement leading into the election, some African-Americans reflect on the times in which they were unable to participate in this American right. Some remembered the many hardships, trials and tribulations they had to endure before they would finally earn the right in the mid-twentieth century. And now, numerous decades later, there are still 7-8 million African-Americans who did not vote in the past 2004 election. There are also an estimated 6 million people who are not currently registered to vote.
Renee Etoty, a Morgan State engineer student, took these matters seriously and decided to join the MSU + 2 Campaign, which compels Morgan State University students to register for the next election, however that's not all. The secondary purpose of the organization is to also to have those same students who took initiative to vote to encourage two other students to vote as well.
Michael Splleer, a representative from the American Federation of Teachers, drew people toward the MSU + 2 Campaign. As a first time visitor to Morgan State University and a twenty year participant in the voting process, he stated how impressed he was at the response of Morgan State students to the campaign. When asked why students are so enthusiastic about the 2008 election he said, "Barack Obama is addressing people who haven't made it yet. He has generated new voters by allowing them to have a voice for the first time."
Like Renee Etoy there are many students concerned about the upcoming election, one of which is Ramone Odone. Odone is currently a registered voter who is very apprehensive about the upcoming election, though he is very passionate about the need for change American society. "It's not about getting numbers if there are no results," says Odone.
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