BY Houston Carr

Staff Reporter

Voting season is finally here and Central’s annual First Amendment Festival and College Civics Week is right around the corner. This four-day event will be taking place  May 5-8 in the SURC.

The communication department, Center for Leadership and Community Engagement (CLCE) and Central Washington University Board of Directors (BOD) are all working together for this event. The goal of the festival is to inform Central students about the  upcoming elections and educate them about the First Amendment.

The “Showcase of Action” will be the first event of the week. Washington Congressmen Dave Reichert and County Auditor Jerry Pettit will both speak at the event to educate students about their voting rights and will present all of the work that the CLCE has done all year.

“We are really excited that the congressman accepted our invitation to talk to the students about the importance of voting,” Rachel Mahnke, CLCE program leader, said. “To really get the students prepared for voting and to really get them involved in the process.”

Pettit has been working very closely with the BOD and CLCE all year long. Their work has been successful because, according to Cassie DuBore, BOD vice president for legislative affairs, Central is one of the first universities nationwide to have a voters ballot box. Central has also been given the chance to do a test run using iPads for electronic voting.

The Washington Student Association will also be there to get students registered to vote.

“We are very lucky to have him to work with,” DuBore said. “I would say that we probably have one of the best relationships with our county auditor than any other university in the state.”

“Your Government, Your Records, Your Meetings” will be held as an open forum event led by the Washington Coalition for Open Government. The goal of the event is to inform the public about their rights under the Washington open government laws. There will be presentations from each person on the panel, which will be followed by an open question/answer session.

“It’s very important for students to be involved and informed citizens. It’s an important learning experience for students,” Patience Rogge, Washington Coalition for Open Government board member, said.

On Wednesday, Mary Beth Tinker will be joining the festival to talk about her experience with First Amendment rights in the education system. In her case, “Tinker vs. Des Moines,” Tinker was expelled from her junior high for wearing a black armband in protest of the Vietnam War. Tinker wants to share what she had to go through during her case and help her students know that they have the power to speak up for their rights.

“I’m really excited for Mary Beth Tinker to come. I think it will be the highlight of the event,” Lexi Perry, festival intern, said. “It’s going to be neat to hear her talk and get to pick her brain about stuff.”

The “Food for Thought” event will be held on Thursday, and is designed to show students the experience of not having First Amendment rights. Students will be able to have a ‘free’ lunch but only if they decide to trade in those rights for the duration of their meal. There will be enforcers walking through making sure no one is doing anything that is protected by their rights, and protestors will come through where the students will be eating.

The idea is that by the end of the meal they will understand what simple tasks they do daily that are allowed because of their First Amendment rights, like social networking on their phone. Organizers will encourage students to vote in the BOD elections after the event

During all four days there will be a “Free Speech Wall” and a “Make Your Own Protest Sign” activity activity to give students the opportunity to let the whole campus know how they feel about current issues. The Free Speech Wall gives the students the chance to write anything they want for the campus to see.

“It’s almost like a graffiti wall,” Perry said. “You see kind of a rainbow of things, whether it’s song quotes, opinions on things, drawings, peoples names [or] what they are thinking about at the moment.”

The “Make Your Own Protest Sign” activity will allow students to make a sign about any issue they have feelings about either on or off campus, and walk around with it.

Market Place of Ideas is another part of this event that will be going on all four days. It is a place where any club or organization will be able to set up a table and get their name out there. All they have to do is sign up. According to Perry, it is a great opportunity for any club to voice what they stand for and why they want students to join.

For more information, contact Lexi Perry at [email protected]