Occidental Announces Campaign Semester

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Author: Ben Dalgetty

On Monday, March 31 in an email to Politics majors, the Politics department announced a new “Campaign Semester” Program to take place in Fall 2008. The program, headed by Professor Peter Dreier with help from Professors Regina Freer and Caroline Heldman, allows for students to spend next semester working on either the Presidential race or a senate race. Students will work in one of the key battleground states-which for the Presidential campaign includes Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania and Nevada, among others-and for senate campaigns will include Colorado, New Mexico and Minnesota. According to the initial email, “participation will involve a wide range of activities, involving voter registration, turnout, volunteer coordination, media relations and many other aspects of a typical campaign.”

Although the program was just recently announced, numerous students have already expressed interest. Dreier said there are currently 16 students registered for the Campaign Semester, but in an email response he said, “I assume this will increase by the end of registration” and that “we could have anywhere from 10 to 30 students participating in the program.” Heldman echoed this statement in an email which said, “I would say that interest is quite strong in the program. My office hours the past couple of days have been filled with students who have questions.”

While discussing interest in the program, Dreier also said, “There’s an incredible amount of pent-up idealism among Oxy students. We wanted to provide an outlet for students to participate in a history-making election.”

The new program is, to the best of Dreier and Heldman’s knowledge, a one-of-a-kind opportunity for students to spend next semester working on a political campaign while still receiving class credit. “Some colleges give individual students ‘independent study’ credit for working campaigns, but we haven’t found another college or university with a full semester program,” Dreier said. He went on to say that Oxy’s “Campaign Semester” program was modeled after the school’s program at the UN.

The Politics department, in conjunction with the Financial Aid office and the Dean’s office, is still working out the logistical aspects of how the semester will run. “We have not worked out the details of the program, but have decided that finances should not prevent any students from participating,” Heldman said. Students who plan on participating in the program should register for Politics 295, 296 and 297 for fall 2008. During the semester, students will work full time-“at least 40 hours a week,” Heldman said. Students will then return to Oxy a few days after the election on November 5 and spend the remaining five weeks participating in a group seminar for Politics 295, as well as working on the independent study paper for Politics 297. However, Heldman said, “It is each student’s responsibility to make contact with the Presidential or senate campaign of their choice.”

Despite its recent announcement and the unprecedented nature of the program, both professors seemed pleased with planning so far. Dreier said, “We’ve been enormously pleased with the number of students who have signed up already and who have expressed an interest in participating.”

“It is good to see an institution that is so supportive of creative learning experiences. I wish I had gone to Occidental College as an undergraduate,” Heldman said.

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