On July 12, St. Mary’s College of Maryland students, alumni and staff came together to educate themselves on current civic processes and issues—many students wrote personalized letters to legislators, expressing thoughts, concerns, and ideas that they felt were important to bring to light. The informal gathering, called “Let’s Get Political,” provided a space for members of the campus community to express themselves about national current events, as well as any other concerns they wished to bring up to their government representatives.
Michelle DiMenna ’15, institutional research analyst at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, conceptualized the informal gathering. She commented, “Many of us are educating ourselves and participating in discussions with others, but [we] still are asking ourselves ‘What more can we do?’ Recently, I have read about how important it is to get involved in the political process and to voice concerns to our elected officials. I floated the idea to some other staff members to see if they wanted to get together. And then we said, ‘why stop there?’”
Student Government Association Vice President, Nick Mellen ’17, said, “I feel like this informal gathering is really important because we are trying to address a number of the issues that are facing us. I think it shows that we are a community who really cares.”
Ashley Ziur ’18, biology major, claims the gathering “says that we are trying to care for each other and that black lives matter. By bringing our concerns up to St. Mary’s and by allowing students to come and write letters to legislators, the community shows that students care about these issues, not just for our own sakes, but for other people.”
For more information visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/916694638456418/ or contact Dan Schell djschell@smcm.edu or Michelle DiMennamadimenna@smcm.edu.