Take Action
There are many opportunities to be politically active and make change. Below are some ideas for how to get involved.
Student Advocacy
A significant amount of advocacy for various social and political causes is being done by students. Inspire U.S. is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that works with high school students to encourage them to vote and take political action. If you are passionate about encouraging youth civic engagement, you could work with Inspire U.S. to start a program in your old high school.
Interested in helping register and mobilize the student vote? Get involved with ConnPIRG!
There are many other student-led initiatives focusing on a variety of social and political causes. Here is a list of some national, student-led organizations devoted to raising awareness of certain issues. Here is a list of organizations on campus for you to engage and connect back to voting.
Help Trinity Vote
The TrinVotes! tables will be all over campus during election season, mostly at events in the evenings and on weekends, as well as outside of Mather Dining Hall. We organize all the information and materials, but need bodies to staff the table!
Voting volunteers help students 1) decide how to vote (in-person or vote by mail), 2) get registered, 3) request an vote by mail ballot if needed, 4) learn about what’s on their ballot, and 5) turn out on election day. Volunteers walk students through the process, but are NOT expected to know all the answers. Instead they are a resource. Help us educate, register, and mobilize students by simply contacting us and we will connect you with TrinVotes! and ConnPIRG student leaders who are organizing flyering around campus and spreading the word through social media and email blasts.
Follow TrinVotes! on Instagram @trinvotes or Twitter on #trinvotes
Election Day
We need volunteers throughout Election Day to encourage and inform students at Mather Dining Hall, as well as organize groups of no more than 10 students to walk groups of students down to the polling location at HMTCA.
Advocate For A Cause
Regardless of whether you’re interested in joining an organization or movement, there are many ways to advocate for a cause you believe in. Educating yourself, joining an organization that is working on a cause you care about, and informing those around you of the issue are all important steps in raising awareness.
Writing a letter to the editor is a way to present your thoughts to a large audience and possibly attract attention from your representatives.
Another option is to write to your Representatives directly. This list of tips on how to write your letter will help make sure it is as effective as possible in informing your Representative of your stance on an issue. You can also submit your opinions about specific bills your representatives electronically through IssueVoter.
Get Involved in the Political Process
Apart from contacting your representatives there are several ways of getting involved with the political process. One is to volunteer with a political campaign. If you want to work with a campaign in your home state, you can contact your representatives and see how you can contribute.
Another option is to submit testimony for bills you care about. By submitting oral or written testimony, you are giving legislators and committee members more personal and effective evidence of the impact of their proposed legislation. To submit testimony, first identify bills you care about. Go to legiscan.com, select your state, and hit search to find a list of bills from this legislative season. You can also search for a specific bill or keyword.
Once you have found a bill that you are passionate about, you need to know the protocols for submitting testimony in your state. You can find your state legislature website and search for how to testify, but some of these websites can be tricky to navigate. Another method is to simply search “submit testimony [your state] legislature” in your preferred search engine. Most states should offer the opportunity to comment in person at a public hearing or to submit written testimony.
Once you know what you want to say and how to communicate that to your state legislature, read these guidelines for preparing, writing, and giving testimony and go for it!
If you would like to really be part of the decision-making process for policy, you can apply to sit on a board or committee. Being on a legislative committee is a great opportunity to participate in making policy decisions for your town. This is not an opportunity exclusive to your time at Trinity. At any point, you can contact your town hall or search your town’s website to see if there are any vacancies on committees or boards you are interested in.
Sit on a local board or committee
If you would like to really be part of the decision-making process for policy, you can apply to sit on a local board or committee. Being on a local committee is a great opportunity to participate in public policy making for your town. This is not an opportunity exclusive during your time at Trinity. At any point, you can contact your town hall or search your town’s website to see if there are any vacancies on committees or boards you are interested in.
Digital Civic Engagement Toolkit
has a toolkit full of best practices to keep students engaged and involved in voter registration and mobilization virtually.
