This October, it seems that the two big topics throughout GSU have been Halloween and the election. One of these things is fright-filled and is scaring everyone. The other deals with candy and dressing up! Both are equally terrifying, but only one has to be.
Georgia State University students must realize the impact they can have on this year’s election. Georgia has recently become a very important swing state. Of the last twelve election winners, eight won the state of Georgia, home to the 8th largest number of electoral college votes in the country.
In 2020, Georgia helped Joe Biden win the election. He only won the state by 0.2%, the equivalent of around 12 thousand people. This shows the cruciality of every ballot, and how important it is that everyone gets out and votes. Georgia State University has over 50,000 students. If most of the student body voted, GSU students could enact tangible change, swinging the election either way.
The outcome of this year’s election could have disastrous consequences for students. Kamala Harris’s legislative history proves she is willing to invest in higher education. During her time as a senator, she signed proposals for cost-free community college and supported proposals pushing colleges to extend their aid to help cover students’ essential needs including “food, housing, and transportation.”
The Biden-Harris Administration increased the Pell Grant by nearly $1,000 and “approved debt relief for nearly 5 million borrowers” by providing billions of dollars of forgiveness through programs such as the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and the Income-Driven Repayment, as well as billions of dollars to students for settlements or disabilities.
Many college students and alumni feel betrayed by the Biden administration’s failure to deliver on their promise to pass student-loan forgiveness. Students have become untrusting of Harris, fearing she will also be unable to implement it. However, this failure was not the Biden administration’s doing – it only occurred because of former President Donald Trump.
Last year, the Supreme Court rejected Biden’s student loan forgiveness proposal, which would have canceled $400 billion worth of student loans, effectively ruining the possibility of
alleviating the debts of nearly 40 million Americans. The vote was 6-3 on ideological lines, with the conservative majority, that Trump consolidated, voting to kill the bill.
The decision was celebrated by Republicans, who have continuously spoken out against any student-debt relief proposal, calling it a “bailout” plan that is unfair to those who have managed to settle their student debts.
Harris has pledged to enact significant judicial reforms, including setting term limits for Supreme Court Justices and establishing a Court code of ethics. If these reforms are passed, there is a chance that future student loan forgiveness proposals could become law.
Throughout his presidency and candidacy, Trump has proven that he is not looking to help those who pursue higher education. His administration has supported the Supreme Court’s decision to ban affirmative action in universities, which was put to address racial and social inequities in university admissions processes across the country.
Trump’s education plan, detailed on his website, includes the creation of a system where only teachers who “embrace patriotic values and support the American Way of Life” are hired. In an interview on Good Morning America, Trump suggested that, if elected, he would shutter the Department of Education. The dissolution of this department would mean getting rid of financial aid for low-income schools and would cause difficulty enforcing federal education laws that protect disabled students. This policy would result in job losses for teachers, school closures and lower levels of resources for classrooms.
The difference between the two presidential candidates is astounding. One candidate has a history of fighting for students’ rights and is actively looking for ways to help change the future for future students and alumni. The other candidate is insulting the way universities across the country are run, accusing them of indoctrinating students, shaping them into “radical left and Marxist Maniacs” and promoting policy that would decrease educational opportunities for all Americans, particularly marginalized communities.
Politics and education are intrinsically linked, but now more than ever should all students become aware of the risk that is at hand if they do not go out and vote. Every vote matters, and with the amount of students at our university, we have the power to make a huge difference in this year’s results.
