With the New Hampshire primary just around the corner, Jack Collens, assistant professor of political science, knew his students needed to be a part of the action first-hand.
He embraced Siena’s proximity to the political hubbub by arranging for the students in his Presidential Nomination Campaigns course to travel to New Hampshire and have the experience of a lifetime.
“I wanted to be a part of that, and I wanted students to be able to be a part of that.”
Collens and his class traveled to New Hampshire from January 9-16 to participate in campaign work, rallies, and to meet with academic, campaign and media experts. All but one of the students was able to work for their top campaign choice for a total of 20 hours each. The goal was to learn the realities of how each campaign operates by participating in the daily work of making phone calls, going door-to-door and networking.
The class also went to several events during their stay, including rallies and town hall meetings for Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Bernie Sanders, Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, and Rand Paul. Some students were even able to meet the candidates in person.
Cody Ingraham ’18, was fortunate to meet Jeb Bush and show off his White House tie. While talking to Cody in-between taking photos, Jeb Bush quizzed him on some presidential history, which Cody successfully passed.
While Ingraham was in New Hampshire, he worked for the Hilary Clinton Campaign. He participated in phone banking for both Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton events. All of his hard work paid off when Ingraham was able to attend the events and meet the former president and his daughter.
Ingraham’s experience in New Hampshire will help him later in his future goals, “I know that I absolutely want to run for public office one day and I absolutely want to have a campaign of my own someday.”
While working for the Bernie Sanders campaign, Kait Krolik ’16 was able to talk to supporters or all ages.
“Hearing other people’s perspectives, particularly older people’s perspectives on what we should be paying attention to politically, even if I don’t agree with them ideologically, I think is really interesting. So I found it really rewarding."
Krolik was invited to take a meeting with a field organizer from Sander’s campaign to discuss the possibility of her joining the team in May after graduation. This experience was just a step in the right direction for Krolik’s future career aspirations, “I want to run for office in Rochester, and I would like to be mayor.
Collens’ class will be updating their Political Saints blog regularly with political predictions and informational posts about presidential nomination campaigns. After seeing the success of the program, the political science department hopes to provide similar opportunities for students in the future. But, for the first time, as Jack Collens says, “Students got to experience the craziness that is the New Hampshire primary.”
