The VOICES project is set to launch its “Political Identity” event with the aim of getting students to voice their opinions about the upcoming presidential election tonight.
VOICES creator Zan Tansey, resident director of De Neve Cedar and Dogwood, said the project was designed to engage residents in discussion on issues such as identity, social justice and diversity.
“We wanted to create a safe space where students can discuss and reflect on their various identities within the larger context of the UCLA community,” Tansey said.
Tansey brought VOICES to UCLA last quarter after starting a similar project at New York University, where he previously worked. He said the project “was very successful with the first-year population at NYU.”
VOICES is now aimed at serving the residents of the south side of the Hill as an event hosted by De Neve and Dykstra Halls, though Tansey encourages all residents to participate.
Justina Kwong, a second-year communications studies student involved with this quarter’s project, said the goal of VOICES is to encourage students to make themselves heard.
“We want to get the residents to use their power of speech and voice their opinions,” Kwong said. “The main thing is just to have the students voice their concerns relating to these issues that you don’t talk about every day.”
The themes of last quarter’s projects were “College Identity” and “Citizenship.” Each theme ran a three-week cycle that started with organizers setting tables up outside the De Neve dining hall, and asking students to write down anonymous opinions to questions relating to their identity as college students or their citizenship status in the U.S.
The answers were then gathered and made into display boards for the resident assistants of De Neve and Dykstra to show on their floors.
Each event culminated in a type of active discussion featuring a panel of speakers and encouraging audience feedback ““ the college identity project ended with a forum at De Neve Auditorium with speakers from various groups on campus, while the citizenship planners put on a dinner where students’ food and service depended on their citizenship status.
This quarter’s project will follow the same format, with the active portion set to take place during fifth week. Tables asking for anonymous student input will be set up outside De Neve dining hall from Tuesday to Thursday between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Students will be asked if and how “ready” they are for a female or black president, but will also be asked for broader information such as political beliefs, influences and topics of interest.
“We wanted to have people look deeper into why they hold their political beliefs,” said Sarah Ellison, a third-year history student who serves as a VOICES programmer.
The display boards will then be created and sent off to De Neve and Dykstra RAs during fourth week. Students who wish to see these boards in their own halls can ask their RAs to request boards from the project organizers.
The fifth week active discussion is tentatively scheduled to take place after Super Tuesday, when California will hold its primaries.
Tansey said the format of the discussion has not yet been decided, but will most likely differ from previous events in order to get students interested in coming.
Andrea Chung, a fourth-year sociology student also involved in the project, said VOICES organizers also hope this quarter’s project will encourage students to be more politically active.
“We know a lot of times students are apathetic towards voting, but maybe the result of this program could draw attention to the upcoming election and prompt them to register and vote,” Chung said.