Campus Wrap-Up 2024

By Leslie Moonshine, AADC Registration Team at Sierra College

While we had an exciting “election season” on campus, our time post-election has been sobering. We see and feel an emotional difference – from excitement and hope to grave uncertainty. But we will continue our voter outreach efforts in 2025, rallying students to whatever level of civic engagement feels right for them.

A Note about Our Surveys
Survey topics may seem repetitive, but the Tuesday and Wednesday groups often see and poll completely different students, as some classes are M-W-F and others are T-Th.

As promised in last month’s newsletter, here are the belated results of our surveys from the week before Thanksgiving. In the post-election survey entitled “How are you Feeling?” student responses contained some surprises. More students expressed “ambivalence or no strong feelings about the election” (13) than “incomprehensible joy, happiness or excitement” (10) or “a mind-numbing dread or sense of terror/doom” (9).  Despite this ambivalence, 14 students indicated they planned to get more involved in political groups or actions, while 11 planned to maintain their level of involvement and only 2 planned to be less involved (other than taking our surveys, of course).

When asked what top issue students hoped the next administration would address, responses were evenly split among the three choices, with 8 each: (A) Make the economy work better for all, especially people like me; (B) Make immigration work for legal immigrants and deal with illegal immigration problems; and (C) Woman’s issues and improved healthcare for everyone. Students thought the top problem the new administration would create would be increased attacks on women’s reproductive rights and on marginalized groups. Students’ hope for the future produced a tie between (A)  an economy that will benefit the middle class and poor as much as the rich, and (B)  that women will get equal reproductive rights and income equality.

In the survey titled “OMG!” students were asked which ONE Trump action, as of 11/13/24, scares or worries them the most? In descending order, students chose the following: (A) Going ahead with mass deportation (22); (B) Reversing course on Project 2025 by nominating some of its authors for key administrative positions (19); (C) Trump’s comments to House Republicans about serving an unconstitutional third term (14); (D) Nominating unqualified people for critical cabinet posts (12); and (E) Allowing Elon Musk to participate in calls to world leaders (9). Students were also provided a wealth of information on the candidates and the positions for which Trump was considering them, such as Tulsi Gabbard, Matt Gaetz (at the time), RFK, Hegseth, etc.

Our last days on campus (December 3 and 4) coincided with the start of exams. Students were hunkered down studying, so we saw fewer visitors to our table than usual. Tuesday’s survey, “What about Trump’s Promises?” asked which top promise Trump would keep. The majority of students (10 of 13) felt Trump would put his promised tariffs on goods from China, Canada, and Mexico. Regarding the effects of such tariffs, the majority believe Trump’s tariffs will increase inflation. As for Trump’s promise of mass deportation, the majority of students believe Trump’s deportation plan will create a labor shortage and increase inflation. A few students think his mass deportation will create jobs in agriculture, construction, and housekeeping. No students expressed concern that a mass deportation would slash the GDP by $5 trillion! When asked about the main effect of Trump’s promised tax cuts, the majority of students believe Trump’s tax plan will cause cuts to basic government services. A handful believe the planned tax cuts will increase growth thus allowing recoup of the lost tax revenue. No student expressed concern about the massive increase in the budget deficit Trump’s tax cuts would cause!

A survey question similar to one in an earlier survey produced quite different results! When asked this week about the “top problem Trump might create,” students were most concerned that Trump will “mess up the economy” with tariffs and tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. They were least concerned about an increase in assaults on women’s rights and education. Additionally, when students were asked about their greatest hope for our country, this week’s responses differed from those given previously. Students’ main hope was for recognition that “we are all immigrants in this country,” followed by putting “a new focus on education and intellectual honesty.” Recognizing “women’s rights as essential” came in last place.

“How R You?” was the last survey of the semester. This survey focused on students’ mental health and access to resources on campus. We began with the question “How are you feeling?” and allowed students to choose any that applied to them. (Sadly, the survey results identified the strain that many students were feeling at this time.)

We then turned students’ attention to the resources available on campus. While many knew of the Tutoring Center in the Library (16), fewer students were aware of specialized help available at a “Writing Center” (9) or Math Tutoring (8) through the Math Department. Not every student was aware of the Counseling services offered (11) or the existence of a “Basic Needs Center” on campus that includes a food bank (10). Even fewer students knew of individual assistance programs such as those for veterans, Native Americans, or former foster youth. Perhaps our survey helped match students with the abundance of resources Sierra has to offer!

New Idea!

After the election, a student asked for the copy of the U.S. Constitution that we had on our table. This intrigued us, and we thought perhaps we could provide pocket constitutions for students! So, we ordered 30 pocket constitutions from the ACLU store, and they arrived in time for our last day on campus before break. We are thrilled that students are expressing an interest in the constitution and are happy that AADC has helped provide these pocket versions for them.

Final Recap

We registered 154 students between August 20 and the election! More than half registered as No Party Preference (NPP). It seems that most students wish to be “independent” and not tied to a party. In our conversations with students, we highlighted the policy differences between the major parties and promoted our candidates and priorities. On a personal level, we explained why we are Democrats! Through our surveys and individual conversations, we tried to make students aware of key issues and facts.  And most importantly, we reinforced why they should vote!