Saint Mary's will be hosting events every Tuesday prior to the November presidential election, Sarah King, the Saint Mary's Board of Governance (BOG) missions commissioner, said Wednesday.
Saint Mary's chapter of the "Rock the Vote Campaign" will be hosting a kick-off day Sept. 16 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Student Center. Information tables will be set up to talk about absentee ballots and so students can ask questions about voting.
After the informational event, Project Vote Smart's national bus will arrive on campus at 3 p.m. and remain until 6 p.m. Project Vote Smart is a non-partisan education system that visits colleges to teach young voters about the Election Day process.
The College is holding events that not only encourage students to vote, but teach them how to be informed voters as well.
"It's a privilege, that we as women are among the third or fourth generations to vote. We have the right to vote," King said.
Saint Mary's core value this year is justice, she said. They are hoping to tie this in heavily with their move to get students to vote.
BOG meetings are always open to the student body, but the Board said Wednesday they are hoping to hear more from students.
"If there is something they really want to talk about and they bring it up at the meeting, we will be more than willing to listen and see what we can do about it," student body president Sarah Falvey said.
The Board is working to have the meetings in larger locations to make students feel more welcome, she said. The first open forum will be Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 6:30 p.m. and the other will be held later in November. The locations of both meetings will be announced as the date gets closer.
In other BOG news:
u BOG will be sponsoring a bus trip to Chicago on Sept. 20, student body president Mickey Gruscinski said. Students will receive e-mails from BOG with details about the trip.
u A Constitution Day panel discussion will take place in Haggar Parlor Sept. 17 at noon. Assistant professor of political science Amy Cavender, Hodge Patel, district director for U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), and Brooks Grainger, a South Bend criminal defense lawyer, will be speaking on the panel.
u The one-year anniversary of the beatification of Basil Anthony Moreau is Monday, Sept. 15, King said. In honor of the day, Saint Mary's will have a special dinner in the dining hall on Tuesday, Sept. 16, and there will be masses held in his honor.
