The Springfield Student Est. 1910
October 10, 2019
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Contact us: springfieldstudent@springfield.edu
Volume 134 No. 5
What is 2020 Vision?
Springfield College’s Office of Multicultural Affairs has set up a new program for students. By Jay Sophalkalyan jsophalkalyan@springfield.edu
While it feels as though the 2020 Presidential Election is just around the corner, there are still more debates, national conventions, primaries, election promises, attack ads, and unavoidable political gaffes to look forward to. Because there is so much information out there for everyone to carefully keep track of, Springfield College’s Office of Multicultural Af-
ON THE INSIDE::
A photo from one of the 2020 Vision Events. (Photo Courtesy of Jay Sophalkalyan)
fairs has gone ahead and come up with a series of programs called 2020 Vision. As plain as that sounds, Charisse DelVecchio, a Graduate Associate with the Office of Multicultural Affair and one of the co-hosts of the program, explained that 2020 Vision is a series of events which are designed to educate participants, especially first-time voters, on candidates of both parties who are running for the highest office in the land. The co-host has emphasized the fact that the program “is not a space for debating issues, but [for] learning, sharing, hearing, and growing,” and the main objectives of the event series is to make sure that all participants feel prepared, to assist them with voter registration, and to help them understand the primary and caucus process, and voters’ rights, regardless of their party affiliation. On Wednesday, October 2, as part of the series, DelVecchio started off by introducing each presidential candidate to the participants and where they stand on LGBTQIA+ rights. The co host informed audience members about the diversity within this community itself as she said, “LGBTQIA+ community is not a voting monolith, and therefore we should not assume that being a member of the community automatically makes someone a Democrat or ideologically
liberal,” before she went on to talk about the candidates’ messages and actions (and potential incongruity) regarding their support or lack of support for the community. When DelVecchio was asked about the significance of 2020 Vision, she responded, “I believe this program is important because I think we See 2020 Vision on Page 8
PAge 2 - Public Safety officer profile PAge 3 - Mental health Awareness PAge 4 - employees of color luncheon PAge 6 - Athletic Admin. symposium