SSU's 'Voterpalooza' kicks off voting initiative

Sep. 22—SALEM — It's a hot year for politics. Just ask the Salem State University meeting room that hit capacity for a panel discussion.

The Ellison Campus Center's Martin Luther King. Jr Room quickly hit capacity Tuesday for a panel discussion on the Supreme Court's recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, and what that means for access to reproductive health care.

With a posted seating capacity of 40, the university had to quickly clarify that the room can actually support 80 to 90 and is listing an out-of-date number, after close to 80 students turned out for the event and created a standing-room-only situation.

"In 2020, President (John) Keenan made a commitment with the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge for Salem State to strive toward 100% student voter participation," said Samantha Giffen, assistant director of the Frederick E. Barry Institute of Politics and Civic Engagement, and a recent graduate with a master's in education, higher education and student affairs. "This fall, we launched a new initiative, 'Vikings Vote.'"

Salem ballots in this year's state elections will look like local ones, with names like "Kim Driscoll" listed for lieutenant general, "Paul Tucker" at district attorney and "Manny Cruz" on the docket for state representative. All three are also well-known elected officials serving as mayor, state representative and on city's School Committee respectively.

There are also ballot questions to dig into, with a proposed millionaire's tax leading four issues to be settled.

The season of voter advocacy events kicked off Tuesday, Sept. 20, with "Voterpalooza" taking over the North Campus Quad with free food, music, a bounce house obstacle course... and voter advocacy information, in recognition of National Voter Registration Day.

Wednesday's event offered the university an opportunity to look back. The discussion hosted Sarah Boomin, associate dean and professor at Suffolk University Law School, to discuss the future of health care access in the wake of Roe v. Wade coming down.

She was also on campus in 2018 to discuss the possibility of it coming down in the coming years, with U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh facing confirmation hearings at the time that led to his joining the body.

"That talk was really what I believed, and I wasn't alone — that this was the beginning, and end, of Roe v. Wade," Boomin said Wednesday. "What happened, as many of us know, is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett was added to the mix.

"Those of us who were following this issue were quite sure we'd, unfortunately, be where we are today," Boomin said. "What I want to do today is, first, talk about what Roe v. Wade was and did and, in fact, what it didn't do, and what the following case law after Roe v. Wade did."

The event then went into the cases that have defined the abortion debate, the ways issues were kept alive and magnified as decades passed since the initial decision in 1973. It eventually culminated into a brief Q&A session, including one question on how abortion discussions often take liberties with adult peoples' rights to do the opposite for a fetus.

"How does it help a fetus to say not that they don't care, but that they can't understand the psychology of the mother and, yet, understand the psychology of the fetus?" asked Rodnicha Jean Baptiste, a political science junior with a minor in business.

Boomin briefly stared into the back of the room at the student. "Are you pre-law?"

"I am," confirmed Jean Baptiste, who is also president of the university's student-led Pre-Law Society.

"That's really good legal thinking," Boomin continued. "I don't have a good answer for you. I think that's a real astute observation."

Thursday brings a break in election action. It continues Friday with "Votar es Poder," a three-piece panel highlighting local Hispanic leaders and their efforts to empower the Hispanic and Latino communities at the ballot. The event's title is Spanish for "Voting is Power."

For more information on Vikings Vote, including on-campus efforts to register and participate in voting, visit salemstate.edu/vikingsvote.

Contact Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or DLuca@salemnews.com. Follow him at facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.

Contact Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or DLuca@salemnews.com. Follow him at facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.