Blue Dragons for Democracy makes inroads at HutchCC

By Cleary Percy
Staff writer

With the 2024 U.S. election rapidly approaching, it’s likely that students across the Hutchinson Community College campus have begun to see the political lawn signs popping up on yards everywhere, or the advertisements all over social media.

For some students, an election year like this one can’t get over soon enough. But others might look toward the upcoming election with a curiosity – Who’s running for President? What values do I support? How can I get registered to vote? Does my vote reallymatter?

It’s questions like these that Blue Dragons for Democracy is aiming to answer – a nonpartisan initiative aimed at helping students register to vote, learn what their political values and ideals are, and helping students cast their own ballot.

Blue Dragons for Democracy has the support of the President and Vice President of Academic Affairs, former HutchCC president Carter File, current president Tricia Paramore, as well as the President’s Council.

Brooklyn Walker, a political scientist and geography instructor at HutchCC heads the Blue Dragons for Democracy Leadership team.

“We have a goal of registering one hundred students to vote,” Walker said. “We’re going to be having multiple voter registration efforts … we want to see 100 students register to vote.”

Last spring, Walker helped organize a voter registration drive on campus that saw 30 students register to vote.

Another way that Blue Dragons for Democracy aims to get students more involved is by the creation of a Learning Zone page that all HutchCC students can access, complete with activities such as creating a voting plan, pledging to vote, and a media literacy test. The goal is to have 500 activities completed, Walker said.

When asked why voting matters, Walker responded by saying that, “So many people have fought so hard for the right to vote, and voting is a way of recognizing how valuable that right is.

“I think it also really, really matters to the health of our democracy and to students’ own interests.”

While discussing the voting habits of college students, Walker noted that, “Your generation has an incredible amount of potential political power.”

Blue Dragons for Democracy will be hosting a watch party for the upcoming presidential debate on Tuesday at Gowans Stadium.

Students interested in joining the club can scan the QR codes on the Blue Dragons for Democracy posters around campus, and can email any questions to Walker at WalkerB@hutchcc.edu.

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