Students Gain Voting Knowledge

The Kappa Omicron Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated recently hosted their Voting Knowledge program. The program was one of many the sorority hosted during the Fall ‘21 SKEE week.

This year’s Voting Knowledge event was forced to go online due to the COVID-19 pandemic but Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. was still able to put on an informative event on an issue that affects all US citizens.

Awards and Amenities Chairman Erin Carter kicked off the program by welcoming participants before sharing the history and mission of the sorority. Recording Secretary Ashley Witherspoon and Hostess Michaela Steele hosted interactive icebreakers and introduced key issues like why voting is important, the differences between major U.S political parties, the role of politicians, what to know before you vote and how to get registered.

The Nubian Message was able to talk to the current president of the Kappa Omicron Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Jada Jant, about the event.

Nubian Message: What is SKEE week?

Jada Jant: A reoccuring week of programs that starts on Sunday with a church gathering and other events like the Making Strides breast cancer walk. There are 5 national programming targets and each day we just try to reach those targets while educating people and telling them what we are about.

NM: Why did you decide to host a program focused on Voting Knowledge?

JJ: To help us reach our global impact target, our age group (college) is really important when it comes to voting, we’re a huge demographic and we know that in the past it has been hard to get younger adults to vote but when they do we can make a really big difference. We thought it was important to educate our peers who either lack the information or just turned old enough to vote.

NM: How did the COVID-19 Pandemic affect the event?

JJ: We weren’t able to plan as we usually do… a big way we’ve been affected is in-person events. In-person we get to be more interactive with our audience, peers, and community. We have tried to adjust our program to still be interactive and fun while still being online.

NM: Did you get feedback on the event?

JJ: Yes! Through our feedback forms we have gotten really good feedback especially on the interactive nature and the welcoming environment we bring to such important topics.

Voting is a key way to making sure not only national issues like health care, security, and economy but also local issues like environmental quality, transportation, and local budgeting are decided how the people see fit – that’s why the event’s like Alpha Kappa Alpha’s voting knowledge are key to making sure voters know how to inform themselves in order to make those key decisions.