To: Wellesley College Community
From: President Paula A. Johnson
Re: Preparing for the election and supporting our community
Date: November 4, 2024
As we approach tomorrow’s election, I want to take a moment to thank all those in our community who have been working to register voters, encouraging voter turnout, and engaging in other ways to promote our most important civic responsibility. Our student Committee for Political Engagement (CPE) and its chair, Margaret Huai ’26, deserve special recognition. Additionally, I want to thank the students, faculty, and staff who organized informative programming on campus, from panel series to alumnae roundtables and more.
I know this is a moment of uncertainty and stress for many in our community. I want to express my gratitude to our outstanding student life staff, who are providing a range of educational offerings and promoting civic engagement as well as creating community spaces in which students can process the election. They are also ensuring that students are connected to all the self-care and wellness support the College offers.
Here are some of the ways members of our community are making a difference:
Voter registration and voting support
- CPE has been tabling across campus to help students with late voter registration, absentee ballot requests, and stamps and envelopes for absentee ballots. The group even provided a notary public for students whose states require notarization or witness signatures on their ballots, and it is also connecting students with transportation to the polls on Election Day.
Educational programming
- CPE is hosting the post-election panels “Religion, Law, and Women’s Rights in the Presidential Election” and “The Future of Climate Policy with this Presidential Election” (as part of its signature annual collaboration with Environmental Action, or EnAct).
- The Knapp Center is hosting a virtual post-election community reflection, “How Identity, Gender, and Race Shaped the 2024 Presidential Election,” on November 21 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Students, faculty, staff, and alums can register here.
- The Committee for Political Engagement (CPE) will be hosting its general election results watch party in the Knapp Atrium tomorrow evening.
- Look for more election programming to be announced later this week.
Community-building and wellness support
- CPE collaborated with the Office of Student Wellness and the Stone Center to host “Building an Election Season Toolkit,” a program to help students manage stress and practice self-care.
- “Restorative Justice Circle: Processing the Election” is being hosted by Slater International Center and LGBTQ+ Programs and Services in collaboration with the Office of Intercultural Education and the Office of Student Success on November 6 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Slater living room.
- The Office of Inclusion and Engagement is working with Harambee House, the Slater International Center, LGBTQ+ Programs and Services, and the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life to create opportunities for community members to gather to discuss the election results. Community members can contact individual offices for more information.
- Students have received a list of programs and events as well as guidance on coping skills and self-care, including a mental health road map for navigating election season, a self-regulation toolbox, and a host of other resources.
You may notice additional security at College entrances tomorrow and Wednesday, which we’ve put in place out of an abundance of caution. There may be a police vehicle at each entrance.
Please remember to be careful to engage in political campaign-related activities in a way that makes clear that you are acting in your personal capacity, not on behalf of the College.
We have much to be proud of as a community, and I am confident we will support each other in the coming days and after, no matter the outcome of the election. This is who we are at Wellesley.
Most importantly, I encourage everyone who is eligible to vote to do so. There is no more powerful way to make your voice heard. Vote as if our democracy depends on it, because it does.
