As it has been advertised for months now, Pennsylvania is one of the most important swing states in this year’s election, with 19 electoral votes up for grabs. With that being said, the college/Gen Z vote is more needed now than ever before. How is our Wilkes University campus participating in our civic duty this election season?

Let’s look into it. 

There are a lot of students at Wilkes on either side of the political spectrum, but our university does not have an active Wilkes Reps club despite the Wilkes Dems club being pretty visible on campus. This does not mean that we do not have plenty of Republican-leaning students at Wilkes, just that the Wilkes Dems club happens to have the support needed to run. Throughout election week, some students volunteered hours to give voter information and Harris-Walz stickers. Their presence in the Student Union Building was an appropriate expression in student-led support of candidate Kamala Harris, but there is not a group that actively supports and advertises their support for Trump. 

As a nonprofit organization, the school holds the 501(c)(3) designation, allowing them to be tax exempt. One of the qualifications to uphold that 501(c)(3) designation is to be a nonpartisan body. This means that Wilkes cannot publicly support a presidential or local government candidate. 

One of the best opportunities is that the Arnaud C. Marts Gymnasium, better known as the Marts Center, is a polling place, so students who are registered with their school address can vote on campus.

After visiting the Marts Center on Election Day, I reflected on the fact that there were plenty of yard signs in front of the building. Some were for Republican candidate for the 8th District Representative Rob Bresnahan, Democratic Representative Matt Cartwright, Republican nominee for Senate Dave McCormick, and Democratic Senator Bob Casey. However, there were multiple Harris signs, but no Trump signs. This stood out to me because there were advertisements for both sides of the aisle for all races but the presidential.

It could just be a coincidence, but if it stook out to me, I’m sure it stuck out to voters who support candidate Trump. 

This poses the question of whether the student body and faculty of Wilkes University generally lean left politically. However, a liberal arts school is not considered “liberal” politically, just in the programs offered. This is important to keep in mind this election season.

Wilkes University has no political affiliation, but this does not mean that students and faculty cannot have their own personal political opinions. Today is the day to cast your vote and anxiously wait to see what trajectory the country will go down for the next four years, not a day to judge, intimidate, or make assumptions about others.