Celebrating the right to vote

On October 18, Lenoir-Rhyne University students united with members of the Hickory community to take part in Stroll to the Polls – a nationwide event pioneered and supported by the fraternities and sororities of the National Panhellenic Council (NPHC) or “Divine Nine” to encourage early voting.

“Today isn’t just an ordinary day. It is a day we exercise one of the most important civic rights – the right to vote,” said Walter Kennedy, coordinator of student engagement, in his welcoming remarks to the crowd gathered on Shaw Plaza to take part in the event. “Together we are showing the world that the students, faculty and staff of Lenoir-Rhyne University, along with the city of Hickory, are registered and ready to vote!”

Other speakers included Harry Titus, Ed.D., assistant vice president of student affairs and dean of students, who explained the inspiration for this event as part of the ongoing university series “Bears Engage 2024: Democracy and Dialogue.”

“A group of faculty and staff got together to create the Democracy and Dialogue series to make space for nonpartisan conversations about elections and voting,” he explained. “We wanted to encourage curiosity and the free exchange of ideas with engagement opportunities for all students to exercise their civic duty.”

Community leaders present for the event included city councilman for Ward 4, the Rev. Dr. Anthony Freeman; treasurer of the Hickory NAACP, Margaret Pope ’69; and Hickory Mayor Hank Guess.

“I’m also a fellow graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne College, and when I was a student, we were still fighting for the right to vote,” Pope observed in her comments. “So, I am so happy to see so many young faces out here today because you are definitely our future leaders.”

Those young voters shared Pope’s enthusiasm as they joined the approximately one-mile walk from Shaw Plaza to the Highland Recreation Center and joined the queue to cast their ballots.

One campus leader to participate was politics and law major Marlesia Walker ’24, president of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Incorporated and vice president of the NPHC at LR. “I’m excited to exercise my Constitutional rights in a national election – it’s exciting to get to finally be a part of the process,” she shared.

Walker’s sorority sister Jada Norris ’26, a business management and entrepreneurship double major, added, “It feels great to be heard. Our ancestors put in the hard work and persistence to secure this right for us, and being a person of color, it feels good to make myself heard.”

Exercise science majors and first-time voters Myles Cotten ’26 and Bryce Thomas ’27 also reflected on the struggles and sacrifices of their grandparents and great-grandparents to secure access to voting rights during the Civil Rights Movement.

“I just want to make them proud by voting for the first time,” said Thomas.

“It’s a privilege and a blessing,” added Cotten.

The early voting period in North Carolina extends through November 2. Residents are only allowed to vote in their county of registration, but they can request an absentee ballot through October 29. For more information about voting in North Carolina, visit the state Board of Elections. Non-residents can make a plan to vote in their home state via Vote411.