Making your voice count with Democracy Matters

The Marquette Tribune, Marquette University
September 23, 2010
By Aurora Prehn

Have you ever felt your voice is ignored by your elected representatives? That you can’t really affect the issues you care about? Well, now you can make your voice heard.

Marquette is organizing a chapter of the national non-partisan student organization Democracy Matters. With elections just around the corner, the club’s timing is perfect because it is not associated with any political party, but it addresses issues related to campaigning.

Adonal Foyle, a veteran NBA center who recently retired from a 13-year career with the Orlando Magic and the Golden State Warriors, founded Democracy Matters in 2001 to give students a real voice in our political system.

Democracy Matters at Marquette will focus on student activism for change.

One important change would be to enable ordinary people to run for office, not just wealthy candidates. A new system of “fair elections” would reduce the impact of lobbyists and interest groups and allow us to elect representatives who listen to and are accountable to us – not to their big funders.

Democracy Matters is working for a government that is truly of, by and for the people — all of us.

This semester, Democracy Matters will be hosting a documentary series followed by discussions, organizing poster campaigns with a possible speaker, tabling, and among other things, training everyone about how to make a difference and become an active leader on the issues they care about.

The first event of the semester is Thursday, Sept. 23. There will be a showing of the first documentary of the year, “Run Granny Run,” at 7 p.m. in Wehr Chemistry.

There is no better time than now to check Democracy Matters out and get involved. Contact your Democracy Matters coordinator, Aurora Prehn, at aurora.prehn@marquette.edu for more information and upcoming events or meeting times.

Aurora Prehn is a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences.