OSUN Documentary on Historic Fight for Student Voting Rights Premieres at Bard College
"Our film reveals the powers which have worked, often quietly, to stand between youth voters and the polls," says Seamus Heady ’22, Director and Producer of "A Poll to Call Our Own: The Bard Voting Story."
The short film chronicles Bard’s quarter-century fight for student voting rights, a period during which Bard students and administrators, with the support of groups like the Andrew Goodman Foundation and the New York Civil Liberties Union, won four lawsuits—three state and one federal—to protect students’ right to vote locally and to secure a polling place on the Bard campus. Bard’s experience helped inspire New York State to pass a law in 2022 mandating polling places at or near college campuses that have 300 or more registered on-campus voters.
Attendees at the screening watched interviews with key players in the fight for a polling place, including current and former students, key administrators, and legal counsel, as well as archival footage of students being harassed at a local poll site and speaking before the Red Hook Town Board about the need for a polling place on campus.
In a sobering comment referencing access to voting in the US and abroad, Bard’s Vice President for Academic Affairs and Director of Bard’s Center for Civic Engagement, Jonathan Becker, said “If this is going on here, imagine what is going on across the country and the globe.”
Director and producer Seamus Heady ’22 said, "Our film reveals the powers which have worked, often quietly, to stand between youth voters and the polls. Nobody goes out of their way to silence meaningless voices. It is my hope that youth everywhere, who may feel dubious about the power of their votes, take this film as an affirmation of the significant role they play in our democracy. Bard as an institution has committed significant resources to bring attention to local municipal injustice, which could otherwise go unnoticed. I believe all universities owe it to their students to do the same.”
Attorney Yael Bromberg also confirmed the importance of shoring up youth access to voting. “Don’t assume these hard fought polling sites and access to voting will always be available, especially if young people don’t take advantage of it,” she said. “The stakes are high. If young people voted at the rate of some other age groups they could change the course of the election.”
The film was produced as an open educational resource for the OSUN course, "Student Voting: Power, Politics and Race in the Fight for American Democracy" which is collaboratively taught by faculty from Bard, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (North Carolina A&T), Prairie View A&M University, and Tuskegee University. Students meet online weekly for class discussions, using case studies to explore the histories of student voting movements at each institution. By the end of the project, they produce a film and written case study for each campus, chronicling each institution's fight for student voting rights.
Bard College President Leon Botstein, who was a litigant in two of the cases, said, "This film illustrates Bard’s belief in the inextricable link between education and democracy. I am proud to have served as a litigant with Bard students and administrators in our successful campaign to secure a polling place on campus and to advocate for a law mandating polling places on college campuses in New York State with 300 or more registered voters. As trust in institutions and faith in democracy wanes in the United States, particularly amongst American youth, it is more important now than ever to fight for justice and change through securing for all citizens the right to vote.”
Becker explained "The film...effectively captures how successive generations of Bard students mobilized…to fight for their democratic rights. It is a testament to the capacity of higher education institutions to serve as civic actors in an America whose democracy is increasingly under threat.”
Bard Vice President for Civic Engagement Erin Cannan said, "The Bard student voting story is a reminder to all of us that fair elections require vigilance and engagement of young people. And that the fear of ‘over enfranchising’ students cannot be a reason for election officials to act illegally. This work is never finished.”
Post Date: 11-08-2024