The Associated Students of Colorado State University held an outreach event on the Lory Student Center Plaza March 10, where students who voted in this year’s ASCSU election got to ride a mechanical bull.
Saddle Up and Vote was an event organized by Assistant Director of Campus Engagement Lily Coughlin, who said the intention was to inform students who don’t typically interact with student government about ASCSU elections.
“Saddle Up and Vote was made to try to engage the part of student body who do not usually engage with ASCSU,” Coughlin said. “When we have stuff like round tables … they’re awesome and amazing, and they have their purpose, but it’s hard to engage the part of student body who are not necessarily interested in that type of stuff.”
Coughlin said that last year’s election had a historically low turnout, partly due to the fact that the races were uncontested, resulting in a voter turnout of 3.81%. Additionally, she said that because students are often busy with school and work, many don’t see the point in interacting with ASCSU.
Director of Traditions and Programming Grace Bennett, who volunteered at the event, said that explaining what ASCSU is to the everyday student has been something the organization has discussed extensively.
“This year has been a lot of work on, ‘How do we get people to know?’ and, ‘How do we get people engaged?’” Bennett said. “I think that’s a big thing about why people don’t vote, is that they don’t know who we are and what we do, and so they don’t understand why it’s so important that they vote.”
The president of ASCSU appoints the heads of the executive branch, as well as cabinet members who oversees different projects. The vice president assists the president and is also the chair of the Student Fee Review Board.
Additionally, the president is a nonvoting member of the CSU Board of Governors and represents the student body when they meet.
“The people who win these elections make a lot of decisions for people and on your behalf as a student, so it’s important that that person actually reflects the interests of the students,” Coughlin said. “This is one of the only opportunities where … every student has the opportunity to directly interact with student government.”
The event also included a table where students could get information on this year’s candidates, as well as free prizes and giveaways donated by local businesses for students who voted.
“Obviously not everyone is going to want to go on a mechanical bull, especially in front of the entire student body — that’s kind of intimidating,” Bennet said. “We wanted another way to not only engage the campus but get connected with the community.”
Zowi Pogonat-Walters, who attended the event, said its uniqueness makes it particularly effective. “I think something fun like this will definitely get people’s attention, and can redirect that to voting,” Pogonat-Walters said.
Another attendee, Hunter Sherritt, also said the event caught their attention.
“I definitely think this will help with voter turnout,” Sherritt said. “It definitely got my attention.”
While Sherritt spoke very positively of the event, they also said it didn’t do much to explain what ASCSU was.
“I don’t think it fully explained what it was,” Sherritt said. “It definitely got my attention to voting and participating. I’ve kind of understood already that it’s our school kind of Congress, it’s our senators, it’s our representation, but beyond that, I don’t think it explained much.”
Bennett said she hoped similar, more attention-grabbing events about ASCSU elections would continue to be held in the future.
“This has been a ton of fun to watch come together, and obviously people are intrigued,” Bennett said. “How often do you see a mechanical bull on The Plaza? I think it really opens our eyes to what we could do in the future and what this could turn into.”
Reach Maxine Bilodeau at news@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.
