By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University women's tennis player Sarah Dean (Sr., Boise, ID/Timberline HS) is very involved with the Get Out the Vote effort at Willamette, as she hopes to encourage students to participate in the 2020 General Election. Although the day of the election is Nov. 3, many Oregonians will vote sooner since all of Oregon's voting is by mail. The WU Votes Committee is working to get students to register to vote and then to be active in the voting process.
"I have been involved in Get Out the Vote work since before I could even vote," Dean said. "When I was 17, my senior project in high school was a voter registration campaign. I have known people who have not been able to vote because they missed a deadline or filled out a form incorrectly. I am driven to get students the resources they need to be informed voters."
Now, Dean is working with a similar effort to get students to vote at the college level.
"Sarah reached out to me early in the fall about wanting to encourage voting and registration for our student-athletes," Associate AD/Senior Woman Administrator Leslie Shevlin commented. "I ended up creating a committee for our campus efforts and Sarah enthusiastically joined. I have been incredibly impressed with her passion and enthusiasm for getting information out about voting and how to vote. She has tirelessly worked on the @wu-votes Instagram page which has 342 followers at this point in time. Sarah also generated the idea and the social media graphics to encourage our student-athlete population to take the lead on getting registered to vote."
Here are some of the things Dean has been involved with this fall to help with Get Out the Vote:
She has attended WU Votes Committee meetings. She created and is managing the @wu_votes Instagram page, including the gathering of information and the development of graphics. She has worked with the Willamette Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to enhance the Get Out the Vote effort. Dean also has been involved with the Willamette Events Board (WEB) and Community Service Learning (CSL) to set up a debate watch party with prizes on Oct. 22. She also plans to create a Get Out the Vote video.
"I love seeing different Willamette groups reposting our materials, spreading the information to more students on campus," Dean noted. "Helping students figure out how to set up a temporary address or where to find their state's absentee ballot deadline has been very fulfilling work."
Dean is committed to the Get Out the Vote effort because she feels that every voter can make a difference.
"I believe that anyone can be an active participant in our democracy, no matter how young" Dean said. "If people want to have an opinion about who represents us, they have to vote. There is no excuse. No one can sit this election out.
"I understand that some Willamette students may believe their vote does not count, but I do not believe that reasoning," Dean continued. "There have been numerous elections that have come down to a couple of thousands of votes, along with ballot measures and other local elections. Your vote does matter."
As a women's tennis player for the Bearcats who has had to manage time as a student-athlete, Dean felt especially prepared to serve with the WU Votes committee.
"Being a student-athlete who also works part-time has taught me how to manage my time," Dean said. "We are trying to create as much content as possible in these weeks before the election and time management is key. Being a captain on the women's tennis team has taught me how to be a leader and take initiative on and off the court. My initial idea was to keep our work within Athletics. Now, I am happy to say that WU Votes has become a campus-wide initiative."
Dean's busy schedule also includes working on a fellowship at the Governor's Office of Strategic Communications in Salem.
"I create content for the governor's social media, including resources for Oregonians displaced by wildfires," Dean said. "I also help draft press releases and write stories for the My Oregon News website. I am taking Professor Cindy Richards' Campaign Communications class in conjunction with my fellowship with the Governor's Office. I find a lot of overlap between my work at WU Votes and my fellowship, especially with how much of a focus is put on social media to reach an audience, especially when in-person events are limited."
General location to get registered/request absentee ballots: https://iwillvote.com
