On Wednesday, the Saint Mary’s College Democrats met to discuss the outcome of the presidential election. The group leaders emphasized the importance of grassroots efforts, educating yourself in the political arena and the influence of women’s voices.
Many political clubs and intermediaries of the College have been coordinating debriefs in the aftermath of the election.
“We knew we wanted to host something after the election, no matter how the results ended up being,” junior Kayli Zelinske-Mader said.
Sophomore Destiny Magana-Stokes agreed and added that “we wanted [the debrief] to be an open dialogue for everyone, and I think that is a big reason College Democrats is a thing. We want to make sure that we have an outlet.”
Many members spoke out about their worries regarding the consequences of the election and their impression of the future political leaders.
To ease their concerns, club president Alli Jablonski decided to present an outlook of the future in order to supplement the conversations. Attendees were encouraged to continue their education in politics by reading and viewing the news. In order to make a difference, they were reminded to contact their representatives and use their voices.
“A big focus of ours moving forward will be the midterms and focusing on women’s elections," Jablonski said.
The club also spoke about their own future on campus. A couple of the group leaders were planning to study abroad, leaving the remaining members in charge of organizing events including a peaceful demonstration at an undisclosed time.
Jablonski will be one leader studying abroad in the spring. Throughout the night she reassured her members that College Democrats will not be ending.
"Regardless of the election results, we are still here. The election just ignited our passions further," she said.
The group hoped to look beyond the present and to continue pushing forward democratic initiatives.
Considering the inclusive intent of the debrief and addressing the strength of women’s voices, the group noted they are open to further relationships between College Democrats and College Republicans.
“We’ve actively tried to incorporate our events with College Republicans in order to encourage the dialog," Magana-Stokes said. “However, it has fallen through a couple times. But, we are not opposed to [continuing] and we want to keep that on the table.”
Magana-Stokes continued to advocate for women's voices and made a call for more unity.
“Going to an all women’s college empowers women to speak their voices. That being said, with everyone’s voices empowered, it's almost like people are talking at each other versus talking with each other, and that is not at all what we want to do," she said.
