Engaging a Campus During a Tumultuous Election: A Case Study

“An experience unlike any other”: The experiences of first-year students with minoritized identities with campus climate during the 2016 presidential election.

“…The 2016 presidential election served as the first opportunity for many first-time, first-year students to vote in a federal election (Eagan et al, 2017). The period leading up to and following this election proved to be particularly vitriolic and turbulent for students beginning college in 2015, when presidential campaigns kicked off as well as in 2016, when the presidential election occurred (Eagan et al, 2017; Eaves & Husser, 2017). Students beginning college during this timeframe participated more frequently in tracking politics through news and social media as well as attending political demonstrations, rallies, or protests (Eagan et al, 2015, 2017) and voted at higher rates than first-year students in 2012 (Thomas et al, 2017).…”

“…The period leading up to and following this election proved to be particularly vitriolic and turbulent for students beginning college in 2015, when presidential campaigns kicked off as well as in 2016, when the presidential election occurred (Eagan et al, 2017; Eaves & Husser, 2017). Students beginning college during this timeframe participated more frequently in tracking politics through news and social media as well as attending political demonstrations, rallies, or protests (Eagan et al, 2015, 2017) and voted at higher rates than first-year students in 2012 (Thomas et al, 2017). The predominance of the 2016 presidential election, which governed the news cycle and was shared widely and rapidly through social media, likely contributed to students’ increased awareness of politics.…”

“…Throughout the 2016 presidential election, many first-year students—regardless of party affiliation—reflected upon their values, considered the political information they received through news and social media, and situated their families’ and friends’ views in relation to their own, often emerging, political perspectives. Yet, students beginning college during this time were still the most politically polarized in the past 50 years as well as among the most civically engaged (Eaves et al, 2017).…”

“…Research exploring the influence of the presidential election on college students’ campus experiences is only beginning to emerge (e.g., Eaves & Husser, 2017; Logan, Lightfoot, & Contreras, 2017). Throughout the presidential campaign, the permeance of the political context in the campus climate became increasingly apparent (George Mwangi, Thelamour, Ezeofor, & Carpenter, 2018).…”