On Tuesday February 7th, at 5:30 p.m. the Political Science Club held one of their regular weekly meetings in Bowman 205.

The meeting began with general announcements from Club President Casey Young ’23. She talked about funding, travel, and the need for an emergency election of a Vice President. Nominations were then made, and voting will be held at a later date. Following these general announcements, the discussion portion of the club began. Topics covered within this session included the earthquakes happening in Turkey & Syria, and police brutality.

Both topics sparked many interesting conversations between club members. Everyone built thoughts off one another and voiced opinions respectfully.
Young is a veteran member of the club, having joined in her sophomore year.

“I was actually elected secretary my second or third week of being in the club because there was super low enrollment. I think we had three or four members including the e-board. And then I was elected president after my sophomore year, and I’ve held the position ever since.”

While some would be nervous about so much responsibility, Young isn’t fazed.

“It’s a lot of work but I enjoy it. I enjoy getting people involved in politics,” she said.

Within the Political Science Club, a variety of different topics are covered during meetings. While the topics may seem to be current events at random, there is a system in place for coming up with potential conversation topics.

“We used to have a system where every e-board member would host a topic and discussion. But recently we’ve been collectively messaging each other in the group chat, about what to cover. We also create a master list of ideas from club members, and our secretary Miranda reminds us of them,” said Young.

“It varies, but usually topics are set in stone a few days before, so we have time to do research. That’s another huge thing. We have to come prepared with knowledge so that we can talk and have a fruitful conversation.”

While the meetings and conversations within them are a major part of the Political Science Club, there is also a smaller subsection of the club that allows students to travel and participate in Model United Nations conferences across the country.

“We sent seven or eight people to Cornell University in November. And we prepared them for the conference and got them their committee rolls,” Young said.
“Model U.N. is kind of like Dungeons and Dragons, but with politics. It’s a lot of huge debates and really, it’s a whole thing within itself. Also, you get to learn Parliamentary Procedures and Robert’s Rules.”

Having only attended one conference this academic year, Model U.N is planning to do four next year and currently meets a few times a month.

Like many clubs on campus, Political Science Club hosts fundraisers to help keep things running smoothly.

“We just did a t-shirt fund raiser last semester,” Young stated. “And we were debating doing another fundraiser. Our public relations chair, David, is absolutely amazing with graphic design. He keeps Instagram and Facebook up to date nearly daily. So, we will have information on there about any upcoming fundraisers.”

When asked about what she would say to students interested in joining the Political Science Club, Young stated,
“Definitely just come to a meeting. A lot of people won’t expect what it’s going to be like. Some weeks we talk about the most random stuff, go on long tangents, and everyone really enjoys it. It can be comical, and it can be serious. I always just say, regardless of your political ideologies or beliefs, we allow anything to be brought up in the meetings, to a certain extent. We love having new people come to meetings, especially if they are outside of the department.”

If interested in joining the Political Science Club, students should stop by Bowman 205 on Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m.