Sonoma State kicks off voter engagement series

Event geared to election for campus, wider community

Deva Marie Proto, Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor-Registrar of Voters, oversaw the processing of approximately 272,000 ballots this past election, which are stored in cardboard boxes. Proto states that 90.57% of eligible Sonoma County voters participated in the November election. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)

Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat file

Sonoma State University professor Kim Hester Williams in her office at Nichols Hall on campus in Rohnert Park, Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)

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By Austin Murphy The Press Democrat

On Wednesday, as the election season approaches full boil, Sonoma State University will launch a series of events between now and mid-November designed to awaken, educate and inspire students and non-students alike “with the knowledge and enthusiasm necessary to actively participate in the electoral process," according to a release.

Various campus departments, in particular the Center for Community Engagement, along with the League of Women Voters of Sonoma County, are collaborating on the “It Matters!” series, which is nonpartisan and open to the public.

"This is all about building stronger bridges to what we have in common and less about what divides us," said SSU political science professor David McCuan.

The series begins at noon Wednesday with a panel discussion hosted by the HUB Cultural center titled “Defending Voting Rights: Past, Present, Future.” Kim Hester-Williams, professor of Literature & American Multicultural Studies, will moderate a panel including history professor Steve Estes, along with Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor-Registrar of Voters Deva Marie Proto, and Monzerrat Morales, vice president for diversity at Santa Rosa Junior College.

The series will include a voter registration drive on Sept. 17, followed by an alumni panel discussion and a series of lunchtime discussions at noon on select Wednesdays in Stevenson Hall.

Discussion topics will include an examination of how algorithms and technology reshape political movements (Sept. 25); Latinx Community & Voting (Oct. 9); "The Initiative Wars: Financing of Ballot Measures, November 2024 Ballot” (Oct. 16).

The series continues on Oct. 23 with “Shaping Perceptions: The Role of AI in the Spread of Misinformation,” and "Governing Climate: How Science and Politics have Shaped our Environmental Future” (Nov. 6).

It Matters! also includes an ongoing installation chronicling the story of SSU student activism, featuring materials from the library’s University Archives. Those materials will include photographs, event posters fliers and “ephemera on topics including campus safety, political figures, and social justice,” according to a release.

The series is sponsored by the Sonoma State Center for Community Engagement, HUB Cultural Center, University Library, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), Department of Political Science Cheryl Peterson Memorial Lecture Fund, Associated Students, and the League of Women Voters of Sonoma County.

You can reach Staff Writer Austin Murphy at austin.murphy@pressdemocrat.com or on Twitter @ausmurph88.