This fall, students at Keene State College have been thinking about two different kinds of midterms: the upcoming election and their October exams.
Students say there are political issues that matter to them, but they don’t feel comfortable discussing politics in many spaces on campus.
One place that serves as a safe space for some, is a political communications class that meets every Tuesday and Thursday. Students spend most of their time in the class analyzing historical speeches to learn how political rhetoric shapes public thought.
Charlotte McDaniel, of Chester, is studying politics at Keene State and says the topic is extremely important to her. Most of her conversations with friends are about politics, she said. But in other spaces on campus, like at the student newspaper or in some of her classes, she said people are not willing to broach the subject.
“We're definitely not like an apolitical campus, but I feel like people kind of keep it hush-hush except for when you're in like, specific places,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said she feels like many of her peers are afraid to express their opinions because it might make them unpopular.
“People are always so worried, especially with social media and stuff,” she explained. “ People are so self-conscious and they care a lot about what other people think about them. And I think that talking about politics is an easy way to become a polarizing person.”
Samuel Jensen, a Newbury native majoring in environmental studies at Keene, is also taking the class. He said he regularly discusses politics with close friends.
But, Jensen added that he doesn't think it's worth letting politics make or break a potential friendship, especially if the topic may never come up again.
Jensen said he has a strategy for discussing polarizing topics with new people he meets on campus.
“If it's not someone that I'm too close with, usually I'll throw like a little slack out there and if we tend to align on that, then I'll go in more,” Jensen said. “But if, you know, I'm sensing that maybe we don't agree on certain things, I'll leave that alone and go on to other stuff.”
'A lot of them don't care'
Other students said they don’t consider politics much at all.
Sarah Skinner is a junior who hopes to be a first-grade teacher. She's from Connecticut, but plans to vote in Keene.
Skinner said there's a wide range of political opinions among Keene State students, but it's not something that her friends tend to discuss.
“I would say I talk a lot about it with my grandparents because they're very like, ‘You have to go vote, You have to go vote’. You have to do this’ more than my friends,” Skinner said. “I feel like we're at the age where like, yes, it matters. But also a lot of them don't care as much.”
Skinner says if politics does come up among her friends, they are usually discussing how they're inundated by political text messages and ads.
There is one particular issue, Skinner said, that hits close to home.
“A lot of my friends and I are servers, and we really like that we don't get taxed on our tips at the moment,” she said.
'Very nervous about polarization'
Amber Davisson, a communication and philosophy professor at Keene State, has taught political communications for about 20 years. She said she has noticed current politics impacting her students in new ways. She said her class is “very nervous about polarization.”
“Their sense of polarization is that sometimes the conversation is a waste of time because if everybody has already picked a side and that side is so extreme, then there's a sense [that] if people are just going to yell at each other, it's not worth talking to each other at all,” Davisson said.
Despite the polarization, she said her students have usually managed to have respectful conversations about politics.
“They're courteous, they talk to each other. They're generally fine.” Davisson said. “[...] I teach some classes on media and sexual ethics. Those classes have more tension.”
Ahead of the election, students in the class said they are excited to vote, but don’t necessarily expect their peers to do the same.
Jensen, the environmental studies student, said he has noticed a lot of “pressure” for young people to be informed voters, which he said turns many of them off.
“There's like pressure I feel like, to be politically involved,” he said. “And if you're not, then you know, you're just not at all. Like there's no gray area”
McDaniel, the politics major, said she will always vote, but would be excited to support a candidate who is more willing to defend their beliefs than those on the ballot this year.
“I mean, don't be wishy-washy,” McDaniel said of candidates. “I want a candidate to win, or lose, but showing us that they actually stand for something as opposed to a candidate winning showing us that they'll be swayed either way based on electability.”
'They know their job'
Kimberly Schmidl-Gagne has led the Keene State chapter of the American Democracy Project, a nonpartisan project for promoting civic engagement, for nearly 20 years. She noticed that students are especially engaged in the midterm elections this year.
“There feels like there's this…this sort of underlying determination that I haven't felt in the past from students,” Schmidl-Gagne said. “I mean, maybe a few, but kind of overall that they know their job.”
She said the determination is driven by national politics, but it may also have to do with a change to voting law that hits close to home for New Hampshire college students.
After months of legal wrangling, and a last minute ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, student IDs will not be accepted when registering to vote or seeking a ballot in New Hampshire.
“Our students are also frustrated that it's never the same playing field on how to register to vote,” Schmidl-Gagne said. “And they know that, and they are aware that there are some efforts to make it harder for them to vote, and that might be enough to get them to the polls.”
During the registration drive, staff from the city clerk's office were ready to help students register to vote and answer questions.
Holden Turner is a freshman and first time voter from Penacook. He stopped by the drive to learn more about how to register to vote. He said he is excited for his first election, but has not heard the same sentiment among many of his peers.
“I just think it's really important to to do my part in the election,” Turner said. “My parents have been talking about me voting for a long time.”
Turner and other voters in Keene and around the state will head to the voting booths in just over a week.
