The University was one of 30 schools chosen to be participants in this year’s Elect Her Initiative entitled Campus Women Win. This was the second year the University hosted the one-day training session.
“It was Alex Sims and Cori Moore who took the initiative to start Elect Her at this Campus,” said Alex Peloquin, member of this year’s Elect Her committee. “The University fully supported the idea but ultimately it was these two women who sparked the initial Elect Her training.”
Fifty students were able to register and attend Elect Her, which is a collaborative effort between the American Association of University Women and Running Start. As stated on the AAUW website, the initiative “encourages and trains young women to run for student government on their campuses.”
Corionna Moore, a junior management and information systems major, has been a participant in Elect Her for the past two years.
“Elect Her is a learning and nurturing experience,” Moore said. “You are put in an environment where there are other women from all different walks of life who have the same goals and interest as you, and you are sharing experience, ideas on leadership and you network with women you otherwise would have never met on campus.”
Sydney Page, a sophomore majoring in political science, was also a participant.
“I have been an Elect Her participant for two years now and I have enjoyed each workshop because of the amount of information that is given and being able to interact with other ambitious young women across campus,” Page said. “Not only was it helpful in terms of equipping me with skills necessary to run a successful campaign, but it also provided me with the opportunity to network with other young ladies and learn beneficial leadership and communications skills.”
Both students and members of the planning committee feel it’s important to have initiatives like Elect Her alive on campus.
“I think that Elect Her is an extremely important tool to have at any University,” Peloquin said. “In fact, after this past Elect Her training I had some ladies come up to me and tell me that they were not necessarily interested in politics or running for political office but learned a great deal about leadership and networking through the program. I think that it is important for young women to expand their networks within their community. We are after all our own greatest resource.”
“The discussions and exercises provide you with confidence and teach you how to effectively communicate your point to others,” Page said. “I love the mission of Elect Her and I would definitely recommend this to all women on campus”
Elect Her participants hope that the initiative will flourish and encourage other student leaders to get involved on campus and learn from different perspectives.
“I would hope that in the future, Elect Her would grow, attracting women from all demographics of the university as our campus population grows and becomes more diverse,” Moore said. “I hope that this year’s participants and the future participants gain the necessary tools and encouragement to become the leaders on our campus and in our government.”
For more information on Elect Her or AAUW visit aauw.org.
