Political Science Club Stimulating Political Interest
Political Science ClubStimulating
Political
Interest
When I set out to re-instate the Political Science Club at Kingsborough, I wanted to create a club where:
Students can share their views in an atmosphereof political tolerance and diversityDomestic issues can be better understoodInternational affairs can be brought to lightPolitical awareness on campus can be increasedElection 2008 can be followed closelyRelevant material, such as films and books, can be brought in to support the discussion
To accomplish these goals, I knew I would need support in both re-instating the club and finding new members.
To re-instate the club, I sought help from faculty:
Jacob Segal, who• Is a professor of Political Science• Was advisor when club was inactive• Graciously offered his knowledge and support to this
endeavor as a faculty advisorKatherine Opello, who
• Is also a Political Science professor• Offered her expertise in this field to help the club as a
co- faculty advisor
Next, I needed to find interested students.To find motivated members for the Political Science Club, I employed several strategies:
Asked my fellow club-organizing students for suggestions Set up a table, posters, and sign-up sheet in a high-traffic
hallways to attract interested students Gave out flyers promoting our club to students
in the halls and classrooms Created posters for the club and posted them around
campus to promote our meetings Asked professors to announce club meetings to their
classes
These are a couple of the flyers used to promote club meetings:
Through these methods, I was able to attract 26 students to the first meeting of the Political Science Club.
There, we elected club officers:
President………………………….Alejandro Rey Pena
Vice President……………………Michael McCullough
Treasurer………………………….Ady Matteo
Secretary………………………….Liane Naber
Master of Arms………..………….Olga Fursova
Since that first meeting a mere three months ago, we’ve covered some interesting topics within our discussion sessions:
Corruption: Can it be remedied?
Big Government: Does the government play too great of a role in our daily lives?
The Electoral College: Do we still need it?
The Constitution: Is bipartisanship warranted?
We also watched the film “Good Night and Good Luck” and had a discussion about McCartheism.
This is a photograph from our last meeting:
And this is a group photo of regular members: