Voting A Class Requirement For Some At Drew

timrichardson writes "A Quaker literature professor at Drew University tried to make voting at the US Presidential elections a requirement for her English Lit class. NY Times has the story (free registration required)."

Comments

How would the professor know?

[HAKdragon]

Honestly, how can you prove that you voted? Unless she makes everybody present one of those "I voted today" stickers they hand out at the voting centers.

An interesting aside to this article, Fox reporters harrassed students trying to register their peers to vote in Arizona..

Re:was he asking for trouble?

[ctr2sprt]

I can think of far more objectionable things to do, and I can think of a lot of classes where I've had to do them all. And you know, all those classes, if I'd had a legitimate problem with doing what I was asked to, I could've spoken with the prof and gotten out of it. There's not a doubt in my mind that this prof would be similarly understanding. I mean, if I can provide a reasoned, well-thought out explanation of why I decline to vote, doesn't that accomplish everything the prof hopes for here? In his place I'd be ecstatic, because I expect half the kids in the class can't tell GWB from JFK.

Note that I didn't RTFA. Maybe he makes a liar out of me by saying he will not, under any circumstances, excuse anyone. I really wish Slashdot wouldn't run NYT stories.

Re:was he asking for trouble?

[drseuss9311]

Mod ctr2sprt up!

This is the exact point i got from RTFA.
The students are not forced to vote, but the prof is encouraging voting by letting the students know that it will somehow affect their grade.
TFA is short and at the end u get the idea that the prof's ulterior motive is to start a dialog on campus, not FORCE students to vote.

I'd be more interested in the voter turnout for the campus vs last year's turnout...

Good compromise

[cgenman]

As a requirement for a sociology course on death and grieving we were required to go to a mortuary and bring back price lists for coffins, burials, etc. For a theater course, we had to see 3 productions external to the campus. For a japanese course, we had to go to Yahoan, a japanese supermarket. A civics course required the participation in a city government town-hall meeting. A course on aging required interviewing the elderly and nursing home attendants.

External requirements for coursework are not at all uncommon, and are generally more useful than in-classroom coursework. If you could choose between two engineers, one of which studied dilligintly in the classroom but had no experience and one of which was required to get an internship in the field, who would you pick?

Requiring students to enter a voting booth is definitely fair, and should pass muster with basically anyone in acadamia. While it is questionable whether or not you can require your students to vote, you can definitely require them to be physically present anywhere they are legally allowed to be. I do wish the requirement were more stringent... I.E. go or have your grade reduced by point five. But the concept of making your students participate in government activities is sound, and I wish more professors (and high-school teachers) would lean this direction.

After all, where are kids going to learn the mechanical, tedious process of signing up to vote, finding their polling station, etc? From 15 second rock-the-vote ads?

Re:This would be a good idea...

[TheWanderingHermit]

Why is the fact that she's a Quaker relevant, anyway?)

Because the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) has a LONG history of social activism and one of the cores of Quakerism is the belief that every individual counts and it is important that each person act according to his or her conscience.

Quakers have been at the forefront of political movements to empower individuals and recognize equality since the 1600's, when George Fox started them. (For example, Susan B. Anthony was a Quaker.)

Re:This would be a good idea...

[Impotent_Emperor]

Plus, their oats are fantastic.