When David Robinson learned who won the presidential election, he was devastated. But he wasn’t surprised.
“The result put a lot of the past year in perspective for me,” said Robinson, a recent graduate from North Carolina A&T.
He spent a lot of 2024 traveling and was surprised at how many signs he saw supporting then-candidate Donald Trump, who went on to win the election. It showed him his social bubble was smaller than he thought.
“There’s a scary feeling behind all of this that just makes you feel unsafe because most people are considering this election result as a difference in political opinion, when it’s truly a difference in morals,” said Robinson.
Abbey Lynn-Gonzales had a similar experience on Nov. 5. As president of the student government association at Dillard University in Louisiana, she spent much of Election Day taking students to vote, some for the first time. But then evening came, and when results began to roll in showing leads for Trump, the mood shifted.
“At this point, students were on the edge of their seats. I’m overhearing conversations with students stating ‘This can’t be happening,’” said Lynn-Gonzalez.
Many voters had similar experiences that night, but it was particularly difficult for students at historically Black colleges and universities. Vice-President Kamala Harris heavily courted HBCUs. Historically Black fraternities and sororities organized months of get out the vote efforts to increase the number of registered voters, building on the increased turnout in 2020. It wasn’t enough; though more than 80% of Black voters chose Harris, Donald Trump won decidedly.
“When the pandemic happened and the world stopped, I definitely had bigger eyes on the political scene and like where I wanted to extend my voice,” said David Robinson. “There was a lot of stigma about voter apathy during 2020, so that kind of motivated me to get up and vote that fall.”
Robinson isn’t the only student who felt this way. According to a November 2020 study done by the United States Census Bureau, over 70% of Black college students were registered to vote during the 2020 presidential election, with only 13% of Black college students not registered to vote. Many events spurred youth voter engagement this year, though today’s young voters have unique barriers.
“There’s a long history of things like gerrymandering and voter suppression that has specifically targeted student groups, coming on the back of the past 10 years,” said Michael Rosino, a professor at Molloy College.
Rosino said misinformation from social media has affected young voters over the years, especially in Black communities and HBCUs. There is a need to engage young people with meaningful policy discussions rather than treating politics as a spectator sport.
“Social media has really put misinformation about politics on steroids,” he said. “I think a lot of those things can be really demotivating for people.”
Silas Lee, a professor at Xavier University of Louisiana, spoke about the student engagement in voter registration this year on campus. Through engaging students and tailoring outreach efforts to their concerns, Lee discussed effective strategies for increasing voter registration among students at HBCUs.
“You have to look at the interests of the students, some of the challenges that they are concerned about. The best thing to do is ask them what they’re concerned about,” Lee said.
To take the best initiative, Lee said students should be allowed to be creative in this process. This will allow them to reflect on their concerns, desires, and what they want to accomplish.
“Young people can shape the future through social media, by raising awareness, sharing important issues, and mobilizing for change,” said Courtney Holloman, a senior broadcast journalism major at the University of South Carolina. Politics have become incredibly divisive in recent years, she said, and “we’re reaping the repercussions … Now it just feels like we’re in a rebuilding stage.”