Depending on your student’s level of civic engagement and interest, Tuesday could have been a long night of watching election returns and following the national and state races closely.
As the electoral college maps show, NC’s electoral votes went to Mitt Romney. In terms of our statewide races, we’ll have a new governor come January – Republican Pat McCrory, who had been mayor of Charlotte. In the congressional district where Wake Forest is located, incumbent Virginia Foxx (R) defeated Elisabeth Motsinger (D) for congress. This did not seem like a surprise to most of the local news coverage of this particular race. Here is the full rundown on state voting, as listed in the Winston-Salem Journal.
For the vast majority of our students, this was the first time they were all of age to participate in a presidential election. We hope that they took the opportunity to vote their conscience. As I have heard many say over the past week or two, “I don’t care WHO you vote for. I care THAT you vote!” Civic engagement is something we take a lot of pride in at Wake Forest, and we hope to inspire our students to be informed and involved in the issues of our time.
They are our future leaders, and we want to prepare them to be ready to think critically and thoughtfully and productively about big issues that face us. Not just in our local communities or in politics, but in all sectors of life.
For all those students who helped with student political organizations, or sat at tables helping students learn how to register to vote or get an absentee ballot, or who hung signs in their dorm rooms, or organized rallies or meetings on campus, we salute you. Thank you for being part of the process. And whether your candidate of choice won or lost, I hope the spirit of democracy will mean that we all approach each other with grace and respect and in the spirit to learn together and move forward together.
