WASHINGTON, DC – Students from Westfield State University are taking advantage of an opportunity that only comes around once every four years and for some, only once in a lifetime. As part of a two-week seminar program, nine students are participating in The Washington Center’s Democratic and Republican National Convention Academic Seminars. Westfield State students join a select group of approximately 250 of their peers from across the country, attending guest lectures presented by prominent political leaders and then volunteering on-site on the convention grounds.
Attending from Westfield State are: Eric Beaulieu, Chicopee; Rachael Cardin, Sutton; Stephanie Close, Peabody; Juan Gonzalez, Holyoke; Jonathan Mercurio, Pembroke; Brittany Moniz, Leominster; Nicholas Smarra, Oxford; and Dylan Welsted, South Deerfield. Here is a sampling of their experiences to date:
Rachael Cardin
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Attending a political convention naturally draws one into thinking about political parties and the effect they have on the democratic process. Even as we are surrounded by people who are working to promote their party’s candidate, we spent some time today reflecting on the power of political parties to shape politics.
Mickey Edwards, one of our academic speakers, began our day with insight from his book The Parties versus the People. He went into great detail about party loyalty and the support candidates acquire simply due to the “D” or “R” next to their name. He stated that ‘the founders wrote not to have political parties,’ because they believed that system would create a great divide would always be slowing down our progress. According to Edwards, they were right. The campaigning process unfortunately often becomes dominated by plans on “how to stop the other guy.”
Edwards did make a point to say that the system is evil, not the people. Obama and Romney are both well qualified candidates, but are set up to be polar opposites of each other. Edwards concluded that he believes the goal should not only be to elect more of your party to have the largest bloc of votes in legislatures; instead, the goal should be to make productive steps toward our country’s future and agree on policies that will benefit the common good.
Again, a very informative and thought-provoking day!
Brittany Moniz
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The character of the host city can have a powerful influence on a convention experience, particularly a national political convention. The Tampa Bay area is a vibrant and welcoming place. Local businesses and area residents have expressed their excitement for the convention and have welcomed the Westfield State University students attending The Washington Center program with great hospitality. We have only been in Tampa for three days but we have been busy since we landed.
The second day of our program had us engaging with guest speakers and further developing our knowledge base of national political conventions. Known for his coverage of 9/11 on CNN, Professor Aaron Brown of Arizona State University spoke with us in the morning about the media’s role during political conventions. It was insightful to hear Brown’s perspective on the relationship between politicians and journalists. As the journalist-in-residence for the Academic Seminar series, Brown advised students to “try to keep one leg on the outside [of the Convention]” and see things objectively.
We especially look forward to beginning our fieldwork next week, where each of us will learn about different aspects of a political convention. It will be enriching to gain first-hand experience at a convention and be a part of such a historical process. People from all over the United States and beyond will be here for the Republican National Convention and related events, and I feel fortunate to be one of them.
Rachael Cardin
Monday, August 20, 2012
As students began to gather for the Republican National Convention program here in Tampa, we’ve learned that the most important word to keep in mind is “change.”
Conventions are a whirlwind of activity, and unpredictable events are bound to occur. Our first day was spent, in part, listening to Julie Brown, Public Safety Commissioner of Florida speak on how professionals in the political world deal with change with resiliency, good organization and learning through experience. Her style of campaigning and the knowledge she picked up along the way also helped to guide her political career, which she clearly enjoys. One learns very quickly that even losing in politics can be instructive, that “coming back” after losing elections made one richer for the experience and can motivate one to move forward. She was a great example for students who spending these two weeks to become familiar with politics.
While our experience at the convention is just beginning, we’ve already learned the importance of having clear goals, and this first busy day and our featured speaker has encouraged all of us to focus on keeping our goals in mind even as we deal with the changes to come.
