With Election Day less than 24 hours away, many students remain politically apathetic, although a few student groups have been intensely involved in both local and national races.
Although Duke University College Republicans and Duke Democrats have spent much of their semesters campaigning for various North Carolina candidates, both on campus and in the Durham community, the two organizations have joined efforts to get people to the polls by calling voters, posting signs around the city and informing residents about the candidates and issues while walking the precincts.
"Our main goal is to help support Republican candidates and to provide our members with campaign experience," said junior Jeff Raileanu, Duke College Republicans president. "There are things you can learn in a campaign that you can't get from a political science class."
Both groups have most intently focused on the U.S. Senate race pitting Republican Elizabeth Dole against Democrat Erskine Bowles. The race has garnered much local and national media attention because of the relative prominence of the two candidates and the potential party turnover in the Senate.
A separate student group--Students for Dole--is also dedicated to supporting Elizabeth Dole, Woman's College '58. The group has attended one of the candidate debates, listened to President George W. Bush speak in Charlotte and helped with fundraising dinners for Dole. With additional support from Duke College Republicans, Students for Dole also sponsored a rally at Duke for Dole in August.
"We thought the best way to [get students involved] was to have something separate from College Republicans so that we could attract people who support Dole, even if they're not Republicans," said sophomore Mary Ellison Baars, president of Students for Dole.
In addition to campaigning off campus, all three groups have also been active in trying to get Duke students registered to vote. In spite of their efforts, however, there seems to be a sense of apathy among many Duke students towards this election.
"Midterm elections are never going to draw as much interest [as presidential elections], but this race is above average as far as student interest is concerned because of the Senate race," said senior Jonathan Morris, president of Duke Democrats. He added, "The average Duke student is still fairly ignorant of what is going on in the state and in the country."
Freshman Danny Fitzgibbons agreed. "Duke students are more apathetic than I thought they would be. Most are not politically active, but that may just be [on] East Campus."
Some attribute voter apathy to the fact that only about 15 percent of each class are North Carolina residents and may be paying closer attention to races in their permanent homes.
"One of the biggest obstacles for Duke is that so many kids are from different states, so its hard to get people into one campaign because they're all registered in different places," Morris said.
Junior Gele Moloney said she is not voting because she is not registered, and even if she were registered, she probably would not vote.
"[I] wouldn't feel like it's my job to vote.," she said. "[It depends on the students... [and the] people I'm friends with definitely are apathetic."
By attempting to get students involved, groups such as Students for Dole have tried to overcome those attitudes. "The best way to combat apathy is to ask people to help, to make them feel they are going to make a difference," Baars said.
Freshman Clare Hawthorne said she's not voting because she's only 17. She said one reason why students are apathetic is Duke's atmosphere and location.
"Duke is so secluded," she said.
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