In the past week, it was pretty clear to tell that election season was amongst us: the excitement from Halloween dwindled down and had been replaced by an eerie sense of impatience and unease.
As the final days leading up to the election came before us, it was heartening to see UVM rallying around the importance of voting.
Whether you were logging onto Brightspace and saw “Voter Education Resources” take up nearly half of your screen, or received 30 text messages a day reminding you to vote, it’s no surprise that UVM is a very politically charged university. Shout out to all of those rocking the camo Harris-Walz hat—I see you.
Yet for a university and student body as politically involved as ours, there is a loud inconsistency that is pretty hard to ignore: UVM does not provide a day off for students to vote.
This made it progressively more difficult for students to express their freedom to participate in such a huge and important election.
Coming from Pennsylvania—go Birds—notorious for being a swing state, I was interested to hear that most of my friends from home were given Election Day off either by their professors or by their college to encourage them to go out and vote.
After hearing this, I had searched high and low on the Office of the Registrar’s academic calendar leading up to the election, with the hope that UVM would hold the same precedent. I’ll save you the time from looking—they don’t.
The irony is lost on no one: UVM, a university renowned for its political and social activism, held so many young voters back this election year by hosting classes Tuesday.
I was caught in a bit of a scheduling pickle this semester, with two exams the day before Election Day and a chemistry lab the day of. For me, going home to vote was nearly mission impossible, making my only alternative to vote by mail.
Turns out, many students faced the same issue, sharing stories about wanting to go home to vote in-person but having academic responsibilities that couldn’t be compromised.
Obviously, voting by mail is an excellent alternative option, but one that isn’t without drawbacks.
I know many students who never received their ballots in the mail, thus making it more challenging to vote in person, since many states require you to bring the mail-in ballot along with you if you have already ordered one.
Giving students the day off to vote would have helped young voters relieve the stress associated with the mail-in ballot process, and reinforced the importance of our civic duty to participate in a huge part of our democracy.
Last semester, classes were canceled for the solar eclipse, which begs the question: if UVM can cancel classes for the eclipse, why couldn’t they do the same for an event that shapes each and every one of our futures?
The bare minimum was encouraging students to go out and vote, why not also accommodate the student body?
Universities play a crucial role in educating and shaping all of us. By failing to provide accommodations during the election season that only occurs once every four years, UVM missed the important chance to embody the mottoes they claim to live by.
As the election season drew to a frightening close, I hope everyone was able to go out and vote, whether it was by mail or in person. I also hope for UVM to reconsider its policies for future elections.
It’s time that our university lives up to its rhetoric.
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