An in-depth study of voting trends for 18- to 24-year-olds performed by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement shows students are not doing it as much as they used to.
The study, which focused on the many variables affecting college-aged voters, concluded turnout during presidential voting years has seen more than a 15 percent drop since 1972.
“The present generation is far less politically minded than past generations,” said Stanley Hilton, a history professor. “The atmosphere on college campuses during the ’60s and ’70s was charged with activism and emotion.”
Hilton also recalled when a reporter from the New York Times came to speak to a few of the University’s mass communication classes a few years ago.
After asking his audiences how many regularly read the New York Times or the Washington Post, the reporter, who visited around 20 campuses, said he noticed a growing indifference and apathy among college students toward political and civic involvement, especially at LSU.
Hilton attributes the apathy to the lack of major issues that affect college students, such as the Vietnam War.
“Students aren’t watching their friends get drafted,” said Stephanie Chiappetta, a respiratory therapy sophomore. “Back in the ’60s and ’70s, students were hearing about the deaths of their friends and loved ones. Wouldn’t you care about voting a little more if that were the case?”
However, the study, which focused on the years between 1972 and 2000, showed about a 10 percent jump in 1992.
Student Government President Darrell Broussard thinks the jump is caused by MTV’s “Rock The Vote” campaign.
“[Rock The Vote] gave candidates and voters a chance to get comfortable with each other,” Broussard said. “They were on national television in jeans and polo shirts answering the questions that meant most to the younger college-aged audience members.”
As the “Rock The Vote” campaign phased out of the national spotlight, voting continued to make its way down students’ priority lists.
“I remember when Bill Clinton said he smoked pot,” said Cassie Loch, a mass communication freshman. “That made him seem likable and personable. He got to our level, and that’s why there was a large turnout.”