“There’s a lot to be learned by putting yourself out there and stepping up to the plate. … Unless you put yourself out there, nothing will happen.” Those were the words of Connecticut’s Secretary of State Denise Merrill as she emphasized to University of Connecticut students the importance of getting involved in leadership positions and politics.
Merrill, along with Jacqueline Kozin, campaign manager for Connecticut State Comptroller Kevin Lembo, offered successful strategies to the attendees of the Elect Her–UConn Women Win training on February 26. From advice on crafting campaign slogans to identifying issues about which students wanted to create change, participants were encouraged to run for student government and other leadership roles as well as consider the importance of women’s involvement in local, state, and national politics.
For the first time ever, UConn is planning a unified election day so that students can vote for student government leaders, the UConn Co-op Board of Directors, and other positions at the same time. Representatives from the student leadership also attended the Elect Her workshop, talked about the value of serving in these positions, and offered campaign guidelines.
Kozin encouraged participants to always be an authentic leader. She stressed that the students should campaign on issues they are passionate about and choose people who will be straightforward and honest for their campaign teams. She advised, “Don’t underestimate the importance of surrounding yourself with campaign staff who are not afraid to offer different perspectives, who challenge your ideas and are willing to say to you ‘I don’t think your idea is going to work and here is why.’” Throughout the day, participants practiced writing stump speeches, strategizing about campaign teams, and identifying their priority issues.
The day ended with a successful campaign simulation — all participants took sample ballots and boldly asked their peers on campus for “votes.” Some participants heeded the advice offered earlier in the day and used the simulation as a time not only to collect “votes” but to collect signatures from peers for their applications to run for student government.
Alice Lowe emerged the victorious winner of the simulation with 57 votes! By a show of hands, many attendees identified this exercise as their favorite part of the day. All attendees said that they were much more prepared to run for a leadership position and felt that running for office seemed more attainable than they thought before attending the workshop.
After facilitating this workshop, it is clear that there are many strong women candidates in Connecticut and great leaders emerging in the UConn student body!
