HSE Democrats club is a student led organization that was founded in 2015. The club meets once a month.
The last meeting focused on the Presidential Debate. The club starts their meetings with a collaborative PowerPoint overviewing key events happening in the U.S. With members of the club gathering in a circle to share thoughts about relevant events. Afterwards, senior Betty Obungu, the club’s president, said that politics has always been important to her.
“I’ve been interested in politics since intermediate and junior high school,” Obungu said. “I’m passionate about the governmental process, so when I found an opportunity, I thought it’d be really nice to join.”
Senior and co-president of HSE Democrats, Jaiden Britt said that it was more of a political event that made her want to join the club. “With the whole George Floyd incident that’s kind of when I started getting into [politics],” Britt said. “When I got into high school, I wanted to get into [politics] so I joined [the club] my freshman year.”
With all the debates happening and the election coming soon, HSE democrats is busy with preparations. Britt shared that she recently went to a session held by passionate teachers.
“They were teaching us how to hold phone calls,” Britt said. We would call people who were kind of in the middle and try to get them to come out for the election and possibly vote for Kamala.” Britt stated that it is her hope to host a similar event before the election. Obungu has already signed up to a poll worker and that she encourages others to as well.
While not everyone is able to vote in the election this year, both Obungu and Britt recommend that students of all ages get involved with the election.
“These policies, they still effect you whether you vote or not,” Obungu said. “It is important to exercise your voice and make sure that you are being heard.”
“Even if it doesn’t directly affect you, it affects others around you,” Britt said. “It is important to see other people’s perspectives and help them out in that way.”
Not only are national elections coming up, but local elections are as well. HSE Democrats are working to gain knowledge on this topic by speaking to professionals.
“We have a guest speaker coming in, she’s going to talk about her role in the election,” Britt said. “She is going to talk about her role in the election.”
The Co-presidents find it very important to have a diverse club such as HSE Democrats available to students.
“I think living in a majority red state, there are a lot of similar views and ideologies around us.” Britt said. “Finding a community that has similar views or morals is important.”
Obungu added on to Britt’s thoughts by saying, “Having a safe space for people that share the same views as you.” Obungu said. “Really, being able to say what you feel.”
*In an attempt to contact HSE Republicans, it was discovered that the club was disbanded as of 2024.
