SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The general election is less than two months away.
As voting day gets closer, a university in KELOLAND is encouraging students, faculty, and staff to be civil and engaged.
Some college students will be voting in their very first presidential election this November.
“This is an important part of the political process is ‘We the People,” Augustana Student Association President Annie Johnston said.
As Johnston prepares to head to the polls, she’s committed to civil dialogue.
In fact, she’s signed a pledge that’s gained over 100 signatures from the Augie community in less than a week.
“Part of my role too is encouraging other students to sign this pledge. What does it mean to look civil in some of these discourses? And also just being able to be respectful, being able to be curious in a lot of these discussions,” Johnston said.
That’s just one part of Augustana’s initiative called Election 2024: Curiosity, Courage, and Civility.
“Getting to know our neighbor, what they think, what they believe, knowing that our neighbor might not think the same things we do, our neighbor might not vote for the same candidate that we do, but we all have something valuable to bring to the table, so by leaning in with listening, with humility, with curiosity we find a lot that we have in common with one another and we learn from one another,” Campus Pastor Rev. Ann Rosendale said.
The initiative also features different events.
“We’ll have things like voter registration tables where students can register to vote,” Rosendale said.
Johnston thinks this initiative can make a difference.
“I think it can at the very least diminish some of that polarization by being able to see someone as a human, not as an enemy, not as an adversary, but being able to see them as an individual who’s deeply passionate about an issue even though we may hold differing opinions on that subject. Being able to ask, ‘Why do you think this?’ is an important step,” Johnston said.
Augustana launched a similar initiative in 2020.
