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District-wide voter registration drive nets 230 students
Holmes Community College held voter registration drives on all three of the main campuses during the month of September, encouraging students to vote in the Nov. 3 elections. The voter drives, coordinated by the History and Political Science Department, yielded a total of 230 students registering to vote; 133 from the Ridgeland Campus, 55 from Grenada, and 42 from Goodman.
"We held the voter registration drive on September 17-18 in Ridgeland," said Kay Kelly, history instructor on the Ridgeland Campus. "We decided on September 17 because that's Constitution Day. The idea here was to couple the celebration of our longstanding constitution, the very document that gives us the right to vote, with a drive to get students registered to exercise that right."
At the Grenada Campus, student activities coordinator Bronwyn Robertson said her Student Government Association (SGA) was a tremendous help in coordinating the drive, and even took the registration forms to the local circuit court as a group.
Caroline Barton, a history instructor for the Goodman Campus, commented that "This year's voter drive resulted in a much larger number of completed registrations than in the past several years. Mr. Kelly and I appreciate the great response from the Goodman students."
The committee involved in the Registration Drive included Laura Canard, chair of the History and Political Science Department; J.R. Hall, history instructor on the Ridgeland Campus; Amanda Kay Kelly, history and political science instructor on the Ridgeland Campus; Jason Kelly, history instructor on the Goodman Campus; Caroline Barton, history instructor on the Goodman Campus; Mark Rummage, history and political science instructor at the Grenada Campus; Jay Wilson, history instructor at the Grenada Campus, and Bronwyn Robertson, student activities coordinator at the Grenada Campus. Student leaders in various organizations including Ambassadors, Phi Theta Kappa honor society, and SGA also helped run the voter registration drives.
"We are all very blessed to live in a country that affords all adults the opportunity to vote," said Holmes President Dr. Jim Haffey. "I would like to encourage all Holmes employees (and students) to take the time to vote tomorrow. Tuesday's general election contains many races and issues that are extremely important to our college and district. Regardless of your position or party affiliation, the most important thing is that you are knowledgeable of the issues, and fulfill your civic duty to vote."
Holmes Community College wants to encourage everyone to cast their vote on Nov. 3, in the 2015 General Election. Go to: http://www.rockthevote.com/get-informed/elections/state/mississippi.html for more information about how and where to vote.
IN THE PHOTO: (Left to right) Goodman PTK officer Anna McCrory and Goodman Campus history instructor Caroline Barton register students to vote on their way into the cafeteria during the Voter Registration Drive.
