In preparation for the 2020 Democratic primaries, Washington University students are starting to organize in support of the various candidates. Student groups supporting the presidential campaigns of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders held kickoff events, Feb. 14 and 16, as the national campaigns seek to boost their outreach efforts in the week leading up to the Nevada caucuses.

Photo by Curran Neenan

Senior Dana Abelson organized the WashU for Warren student group and led the kickoff event on Friday. Abelson said that it was when her sister was diagnosed with a chronic autoimmune disorder in 2018 that she gained firsthand insight into the shortcomings of the American healthcare system. Her family’s insurance plan refused to cover a necessary medication, which cost about $100,000 per year.

Seeing the comprehensiveness of Warren’s Medicare for All plan sparked Abelson’s interest in the campaign.

“I started phone banking and text banking a couple months ago, because I felt really uncomfortable with the idea with the idea of Trump’s re-election, and I wanted to know that I’d done everything that I could to support a candidate that encompassed the best things that the Democratic Party has to offer,” Abelson said. “As soon as [the Warren campaign] launched the St. Louis field office, I reached out and asked if it was possible to volunteer with them and to launch something at Wash. U., because I think that this is a great place for the campaign to grow.”

Although the WashU for Warren group officially started just a week ago, Abelson said that she’s already been able to reach nearly 150 students who are interested in learning more and getting involved.

The WashU for Bernie student group has likewise seen rapid growth in the past weeks, culminating in Sunday’s kickoff event, which was largely planned by freshman Spencer Chrein.

“There’s so much inequality in the world and coming from a place of relative privilege, I’ve always had empathy for those people who were born into households that couldn’t afford meals or schooling or health care,” Chrein said. “And then I see people who have twelve mansions, and it’s just a blatant amoral thing that goes on in the United States. I always wanted to find a way that could solve this problem, and I think Bernie Sanders is the answer to that.”

Sophomore Philip Keisler has also been instrumental in the growth of WashU for Bernie. After getting involved in the campaign by phone banking over winter break, he gathered a few friends to start making calls out of his dorm and created a group chat which has now grown to over 150 members.

“I think there’s a ton of support for Bernie here because he’s one of the few candidates that really speaks to all the issues that students are facing—student debt, making college more affordable, fighting climate change and making sure that we have a livable planet to inherit,” Keisler said. “He makes sure to address the concerns of young people in a way that not a lot of candidates do.”

Many of the issues at stake uniquely affect a younger demographic, Keisler explained, pointing out that the country had a much more robust system of public funding for education fifty years ago than it does now and that young people have borne much of the brunt of the rapid increase in school shootings.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re in the Wash. U. bubble if we can’t solve climate change,” Keisler said. “I think a lot of students might be on their parents’ plan for health care, but they only get to stay on that plan until they’re 26. After that, they need to have a health care system that supports them as young people.”

Despite the importance of the issues currently facing young people, voter turnout among the 18- to 24-year-old demographic has traditionally been the lowest out of any age group.

“You see that reflected in the policy that candidates put out,” Keisler said. “Why don’t they talk about things like student debt? Why don’t they talk about things like gun control and climate change and so on? We get the conversation focused on issues that really affect us by showing up to vote and showing that we as a generation are a voice that they have to listen to.”

Chrein believes that a lot of student apathy likely stems from a feeling of helplessness, or the idea that one vote will not make a significant difference.

“Our system kind of makes us think that our vote doesn’t matter—if we live in a red state or blue state, we can’t change that,” he said. “But really, people need to understand that if you can get a movement of people and you do organizing and you talk to your friends, you can really create a movement of people and change things.”

Students with a desire to take action don’t necessarily need to support a specific candidate, or even get involved on a national level at all, Keisler said, pointing out that directly on campus, unions are fighting for health care equity and a living wage.

“I say that apathy isn’t really an option because the stakes are just too high,” Keisler said. “It’s an easy way to go, because it’s not much work to be apathetic. But if you actually want a country that reflects your values, where you can feel both economically and physically secure, you need to get involved for something you believe in.”

Although Abelson agreed that the University atmosphere is apathetic at times, she remained hopeful that many students would become more invested in the political process as the primary continues to progress.

”A lot of students have become kind of desensitized to the stuff that’s happening because it just happens all the time,” Abelson said. “Every day, there’s a new headline that’s scarier than the day before. But I’ve talked to a lot of people who feel like for the first time, they have something to vote for instead of just something to vote against. And I think that that’s the main way to target apathy—by telling people they’re not just standing up against something but they are standing up for something.”