Listen Here
Special Column by Dr. Melanie Dusseau, Associate Professor of English and Dr. Harley Ferris, Assistant Professor of English and Director of the Writing Center 
Both political parties have always courted the college vote, and this presidential race is no different. Back in the day, us GenXers remember campaigns like Rock the Vote that made voting seem sexy and hip, a civic duty that everyone from Madonna to LL Cool J did with subversive, rock-n-roll style. What your professors of a certain age—when they’re not waxing nostalgic for the days when MTV played music—might not admit, is that we often felt the insincerity of these messages, the pandering, and the weight of the constant barrage of negative campaigning vying for our attention and our vote. Election season fatigue wears us all down, and college students may be tempted to tune out and vote on a whim born of indifference, or worse, sit out altogether because they don’t fully align with either candidate in our flawed, two-party system, or they simply feel that their lone vote hardly matters. We hope that you will vote, and not because Taylor Swift said so on Instagram, but because you are the generation of compassion. That may not be as angsty and flashy as being labeled “Slackers” like us, but we think you are worthy of the title.
Daily in our classrooms at UF, we witness the compassion of this generation of college students. We see how you care deeply for the Earth, your fellow humans, and all its animals. We witness your courage in forging ahead in rough economic times, the collective hopes that you have for a meaningful career after you walk through the iconic arch with diplomas in hand. At tables in the Refinery, Christian students break bread with people of other faiths, or no faith at all. You belong to student groups like United that encourage belonging and inclusion for LGBTQ+ students, because you want belonging and inclusion for all students, no matter their political affiliation.
We also hear generational bashing that exists in a nonstop cycle—that you’re stuck in your phones, that you don’t want to work, and that you’re not politically engaged—but we see evidence to the contrary daily. We watch you grapple with a world of contradictions, face uncertain futures, navigate the deluge of information that comes from all sides, and bear the responsibility older generations place on your shoulders for sorting out the mess that’s been left for you. We see you question things other people want you to take for granted, figure out your own set of values, and creatively tackle obligations that previous generations could never imagine dealing with. Not a pandemic or a robot revolution could stop young people from seeking their educations and striving to fulfil their dreams.
There are always stakes in any election, but the simple math is that the outcome of this election will impact you, the younger generation, more than it does us. What issues do you care about? Investigate and research without doom scrolling extremist voices on social media. Learn who these people running for office are, what they’ve said and done, and what they say they intend to do. Pay attention to how they talk about themselves, the issues, and the people who are affected by them. Don’t allow partisanship or party to define your values; instead, listen when the candidates show you who they are. Be an example of civility and respectful discourse when you encounter those who disagree with you.
Decide for yourself but decide you must. And not because your parents or professors say so, but because you have the compassion and humanity to make the right decision for yourself. What are a couple of word nerds’ most pressing issues, you wonder? As you might imagine: education. You, college students, are one of our most important considerations. You need not be a liberal or conservative to care about the future of education; we believe profoundly that education has always been the way of hope and progress. Take the candidates at their word when they express their plans for the future of education in this country. Focus your research on those policies that will immediately impact your life as a college student come January of 2025 by not only reading each candidates official policy plans, but also reactions to those plans like this op-ed from Inside Higher Ed: US Higher Education Isn’t Ready for Authoritarianism.
Many will try to tell you how to vote, and many will tell you it’s your obligation to vote. Voting is indeed a privilege, and it’s also a personal choice. Part of adulting is figuring out what you believe, but an equally important part is knowing why you believe it. When it comes to voting, you may ultimately decide not to cast a ballot this year. If that’s you, we encourage you to have a clear reason, such as the case made by one of our professors at UF: Voting Is Important to Me. That’s Why, This Year, I Won’t Vote.
So however you vote, or whether you make an informed decision not to participate, we encourage you to manifest the compassionate future that you see sharing with your fellow Oilers. We have hope for you and faith in you that you will choose a vision for our country that speaks to our shared humanity. More than anything, we want you to be safe, loved, and curious enough to examine your hearts and minds for the empathy we know resides there. Let’s remember to care for one another—before and after this monumental election—as we go forward together in this beautiful, sometimes messy, experiment called American democracy. As Maya Angelou wrote after your Gen-X professors’ first presidential election:
Here, on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes, and into
Your brother’s face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope —
Good morning.
