On Oct. 1, 2024, at 8:15 p.m., Abby Vitali, Grace Sims and Joshua Goshay began setting up for their second debate watch party of the year. A long table at the front of the room was filled with snacks and drinks for students. Voting buttons were passed from person to person, and debate bingo cards with heart-shaped American flags were distributed throughout the room.
In September, the group organized a watch party for the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Now they were doing the same for the vice presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz.
While fewer students were showing up for the VP debate watch party than they did for the presidential debate, those in attendance were awaiting the debate outcome.
Three minutes before the start of the debate, Vitali, a co-leader of Raise Your Voice at Otterbein and a senior studying economics and English, stood to address the room.
Before the C-span live stream of the VP debate captured the attention of the room Vitali said Raise Your Voice advocates for nonpartisan political engagement.
The group wanted to create an atmosphere where people with different perspectives could watch the live stream “peacefully and harmoniously,” she said.
In previous years, Raise Your Voice has been nationally recognized for its political engagement work on campus.
In 2022, the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge recognized Otterbein as the ALL IN Most Engaged Campus for college student voting.
A report from the Institute of Democracy and Higher Education found in the 2020 presidential election, 66% of students voted, which was a 14% increase from the 2016 election.
Debate watch parties and tabling events with partners like the Ohio League of Women Voters are just two ways Raise Your Voice encourages students to vote.
Raise Your Voice focuses on the “verb of voting,” Vitali said. Instead of promoting one political party over another, the group aims to motivate students to register and show up at the polls.
“We want to make sure that everybody can come here and feel safe and not alienated because of a political position,” Vitali said at a voter registration table event.
According to Sims, a senior majoring in psychology, sociology, and women’s gender and sexuality studies (WGSS), college students face unique obstacles to voting. Getting to help students feel confident when casting their vote is what she feels passionate about.
Sims co-leads Raise Your Voice with Vitali and Goshay.
“Raise Your Voice does work that other people might not want to do, it’s controversial,” said Goshay, a sophomore political science major. Goshay has been the most recent addition to Vitali and Sims on the leadership team.
“We’re doing our civic duty to make sure we get people registered and informed on the elections to come,” Goshay said.
Goshay’s passion for democracy began his senior year of high school when the Ohio League of Women Voters visited his school. He soon got involved and started working at the polls.
Like Goshay, Vitali’s passion for politics started when she turned 18 and was able to participate in her first election.
“I still have my voting sticker from my first election ever. … It really does mean so much when you’re actually able to exercise your right to vote in what you believe in,” Vitali said. “Voting is the most efficient and peaceful way of getting stuff done.”
She, like Goshay, later became a poll worker and sought to join a political group on Otterbein’s campus.
Now, after a few years of being involved in the organization, Vitali is spreading the same excitement to those she is leading with Goshay and Sims.
Mya Zarate Zarate, a first-year pursuing psychology, recently joined Raise Your Voice to get more involved on campus.
Before joining the group, Zarate Zarate knew very little about politics. After three weeks, Zarate Zarate said she has learned so much through the resources she has been given by the leadership team.
Raise Your Voice encourages you to vote in what you believe in and to raise your voice.
