Welcome back to N.C. State, and congratulations to all the incoming freshmen.
Typically, fall semester is a good time to look forward to football season and the beginning of a new year, but this year is a particularly good time to come back to school, specifically on a college campus with the 2008 presidential election just around the corner.
Universities are some of the most open institutions in the United States for academic thought and debate – political discourse falls nicely in line with the freedom of speech that a campus strives so hard to foster and encourage. NCSU is positioned in the heart of North Carolina’s capitol in a state that is now being considered a “battleground state,” with competitive presidential, senatorial and gubernatorial contests – not to mention that we’re home to the two of the largest flagship universities in North Carolina’s UNC System of schools.
Historically, NCSU has been an important staging ground for major political figures. Former four-term governor Jim Hunt served as student body president at the University for two terms before beginning his career in North Carolina politics. North Carolina has been credited as the state that saved Ronald Reagan’s political career when he carried it in the 1976 Republican primary, leading him to run again in 1980. Naturally, he campaigned in Raleigh by holding a major rally at Reynolds Coliseum with legendary North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms.
Sens. John Edwards and John Kerry had one of their first major rallies in July of 2004 in the Court of the Carolinas to lay out their plan for a “New America.” Following the 2004 election, Cindy Sheehan made her cross-country bus tour protesting the war in Iraq, and her bus made a memorable stop in the Brickyard that led to protests between rival factions on campus. More recently, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama saturated our campus with surrogates and rallies at Centennial Campus and Reynolds Coliseum. Just last night, Barack Obama was down the street at the State Fairgrounds giving a speech on his economic policy.
If you’re a political junkie, you’re probably living a dream. I’ve only scratched the surface by recounting an abridged history of major political speakers on campus and different colleges and groups within the University bring in other major public policy speakers. One look at the Student Organization Resource Center webpage and you see campus groups that encompass just about every major political and interest group.
If you’re not the political junkie, then all this attention that North Carolina and NCSU are receiving will do you well to educate you about the process and the candidates, as it’s kind of hard to escape the publicity these elections are receiving. As the elections heat up even more with less than 100 days till November 4, enjoy the attention, educate yourself about the different races and, if you’re so inclined, get involved – an opportunity like this only comes around once every four years.
Let Benton know your thoughts on politics at [email protected]
