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The Swift Society at Emmanuel is dedicated to music, pop culture, and all things Taylor Swift. This includes the musical megastar’s penchant for advocating civic engagement, as evidenced by the recent voter registration drive co-hosted by the club in the Jean Yawkey Center (JYC).
“The main mission of our club is to have fun and bring people together, but we also bring about some advocacy,” said Swift Society President Jessica Federico ’25. “Taylor Swift is one of those icons in pop culture who highlights the importance of voting and we feel the same way.”
The drive was organized through EC Votes, a special collaboration between staff, faculty, and students. Emmanuel Vice President of Student Affairs Jennifer Forry convened the group back in August to chart how the College how would promote engagement with the 2024 election.
“This is the first presidential election for most of our students, and the whole purpose of EC Votes was to ensure that we were providing what our community needs to make an informed vote,” said Forry.
Working under the EC Votes umbrella, staff, faculty, and students organized events focused on everything from social justice to down-ballot races. The programming concludes with an election night watch party at the JYC and an open classroom the following day with Associate Professor of Political Science Adam Silver to discuss the historic proceedings.
Forry credited the Youth in Government club for stepping up to organize nearly a dozen events this election season, including three registration drives, a pair of debate watch parties and collaborations with other student groups.
Youth in Government is a student-run club focused on promoting civic engagement. Club President Joshua Luedke ’26 said interest in the election has been strong at Emmanuel, noting nearly 100 guests at the most recent debate watch party.
Between organizing events and direct outreach, Luedke said this is the busiest time for the club. Much of the work has been focused on providing guidance for voter registration and directing peers toward reliable information. Luedke refers to that process as developing a voting day plan, which is especially important for first time voters.
“I’ve talked to a lot of students who say they’re registered, but they needed to make plans for early voting or absentee ballots,” said Luedke. “I’d estimate we’ve probably helped close to 100 students with making sure they have that voting plan.”
The club also collaborated with the Environmental Justice Club to develop a deep-dive presentation on likely environmental impacts of the election and with the library on a pair of social justice panel discussions.
Luedke said the social aspect is important. His theory is that students are the best advocates for encouraging their peers to get involved with democracy.
“We are always trying to advocate for people to be civically engaged and we have a long-standing tradition of offering a community component,” said Luedke. “For a lot of the folks this is going to be their first presidential election, and this gives them that community and camaraderie with their engagement.”
Luedke also thanked the Youth in Government club officers for working together to make the events possible.
"It’s an incredible team and I’m very proud of the work they’re doing,” said Luedke.
Election Day Events and Wrap-up
Election Night Watch Party: Jean Yawkey Center Lobby, starting at approximately 7:45 p.m. All are welcome.
Post-Election Open Classroom: All are invited to attend the Campaign Strategies and Election Politics class taught by Associate Professor of Political Science Adam Silver at the Fenway Room from 1:25- 2:40 on Wednesday, Nov. 6. Refreshments will be provided.