From a Professor: Get Involved in This Election

The last time I bylined an article for this paper, I was a 21-year-old Loyola undergrad studying politics and journalism. When I was a student 40 years ago, our campus was less manicured and stately. Most students commuted to campus; many were the first in their families to attend college. We had a day cafeteria and no athletic fields or campus life to speak of. We did have the pre-Hogwarts majesty of the Cudahy Library and Jesuits who introduced us to Liberation Theology.

Bruno’s on Sheridan provided libations, and a café bookstore next door is where I studied late into the night, fell in love at first sight and smoked thousands of Marlboros paid for in cash. I fearlessly rode the ‘L’ and daydreamed a lot because I wasn’t constantly tethered to devices.

I identified with the 80s punk rock scene, music, and the zeitgeist it expressed. I was a DJ on WLUW and danced until dawn at clubs named NEO, Berlin and Obanion’s. Thankfully, there are no social media posts of my bad choices.

Loyola is also where I became political.

I could never have imagined when I first walked onto campus in 1980 Loyola would become my intellectual home, or that for the past twenty years, I would teach an election year course on presidential political marketing at the Quinlan School of Business.

As a member of the Baby Boom subgroup Generation Jones, I came of age during what may have been the last great era of relative peace, prosperity and promise. I was a student during the Reagan Administration, Vietnam, the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, civil rights protests, the Cold War, Watergate. Together with wars in the Middle East and the fall of the Berlin Wall and Soviet Union, these events went on to define my worldview.  

I didn’t have to contend with doomscrolling, FOMO or algorithms telling me where to eat, what to wear or what I should believe. The only drills we had in school were fire drills. Words like conspiracy, polarization, election fraud, hanging chads, mass shootings, woke, safe spaces, fake news and tribalization never entered my generation’s lexicon. 

Yes, America was plagued then, as it is now, with systemic racial, wealth, gender and climate inequalities. The American experiment has long been imperfect, but it hasn’t always been a constant ideological battlefield — there used to be a fundamental trust in the social contract. 

What strikes me most deeply today as I interact with and teach the next generation of Loyola leaders is how deeply distrustful my students are with the very institution of politics, as well as business, media and even NGOs.  

During my time as a Loyola student, politicians weren’t enemies — they were leaders who embraced Voltaire’s ideal that while they disagreed with many across the aisle, and what they said, they would defend to the death their right to say it. Leaders argued about ideas, not personalities. Republicans and Democrats would share a beer after work to hammer out legislative compromises.

It was an era when the perfect wasn’t the enemy of the good. When politics wasn’t a zero-sum game and where politicians were ideological adversaries, not enemies. Politics wasn’t a death sport. Election officials weren’t training for active-shooter events on election day or counting ballots behind bullet-proof windows in rooms equipped with panic buttons. 

I learned to vote for ideas — not against candidates. 

While I understand why young voters embrace this Shakespearean “plague on both your houses,” I believe now, as I did all those years ago, citizenship transcends the moment and is more about engaging with civic responsibility. 

Historically, 18-29-year-old voters consistently produce low-voter turnout. The 2024 election is looking in earnest to the 41 Million members of Gen Z who will be eligible to vote in 2024, over eight million of them as first time voters. 

If they all vote in November, they will forever change the landscape of U.S. politics.

Let’s use the final weeks of this unprecedented presidential election to become active participants in our democracy. Let’s use this space to announce campus events, build dialogue, listen to all voices with respect, dignity and discipline.  

Democracy at its most basic, is about trust — entrusting the people to be responsible citizens. 

Let’s listen and learn from those who don’t see the world as we do and discuss difficult subjects. 

I hope this article prompts students to engage in such an exchange. Where students can learn how to register to vote. Learn Kamala Harris’ campaign agenda. And that of Donald Trump. Read the 2024 Democratic Party Platform and the 2024 Republic Party Platform. And yes, Project 2025.  

America’s Founding Fathers studied the history of democracies dating back to ancient Greece. Then drafted the world’s longest surviving written charter of government, ratified in 1788.  They drew the lesson that democracies can be fragile. That democracy is hard, messy and complicated. They were young men — contemporaries of today’s students. On July 4, 1776, James Monroe was 18, Alexander Hamilton was 21, James Madison was 25 and Thomas Jefferson was the elder statesman at 33. 

It’s time for today’s young citizens to write the next chapter of the American story, through action and activism. That begins by sharing your opinions, views, hopes and aspirations. Join the Instagram page GenerationWTF2024 to add yours to the conversation.

We have much to gain from your voices. I know I do.

Eve Geroulis is a marketing professor at Loyola. This article bridges a professor’s perspective on politics with student life, imploring students to use university resources for engaging with political discourse. 

Opinions expressed in guest essays do not necessarily reflect those of The Loyola Phoenix. To submit a guest essay for publication please contact [email protected] and [email protected].