Dionna Davis is already a registered voter. Now, thanks to the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, she’s an informed voter, too.
The fraternity hosted a debate Wednesday night in Brody Hall’s multipurpose room, which featured representatives from MSUCollege Democrats and Republicans.
Before the debate, Davis said she was undecided about choosing a candidate, and felt uninformed about the political scene.
“I’m voting for (Democratic Vice President Al) Gore,” she said after the debate, which offered facts and issue stances about the two major presidential candidates. “He seems more for the people, and would help me more in the long run.”
The debate was part of Alpha Phi Alpha’s “A Voteless People Is A Hopeless People” program, which has been in the works since 1934.
“Each and every chapter takes an active role in this program,” said Nnamdi Oputa, president of Alpha Phi Alpha. “We want to encourage people, especially African Americans, to vote and let them know that every vote counts.”
The fraternity also held a voter registration drive last month. That’s where Davis registered, along with 300 others between Sept. 10 and Sept. 14, at a booth set up outside of Wells Hall.
About 20 people attended Wednesday’s forum, in which Denise O’Neal and Jason Ahrens presented their party’s views. O’Neal is a member of the College Democrats and MSU’s minority outreach director. Ahrens is the chairman for the College Republicans.
Ahrens and O’Neal discussed topics such as affirmative action, abortion, student tax breaks, Social Security and Proposal 1 - the school voucher initiative.
“It’s important to learn the issues, to hear both sides of the story,” Ahrens said. “Not just an ad.”
Kendra Howard, a representative from “All Kids First!” which opposes Proposal 1, presented her organization’s view.
“We cannot take public money and send them in any way shape or form to private schools,” Howard said. Alpha Phi Alpha will continue to pass out informative political fliers until the election on Nov. 7.
“One of the aims is to educate voters,” said Jhamal Swift, an Alpha Phi Alpha member who ran the forum. “An ignorant vote is almost as bad as not voting at all.”
