WRITER’S NOTE:
I will be referring to the school paper by its proper name when I cite specific publications:
The Marion College Journal/ The Journal: 1920-1999
The Argosy: 2000-2001
The Sojourn: 2002-present.
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Throughout IWU’s history, national politics have played a large role in the lives of students and faculty.
When it was called “The Marion College Journal,” students would write about the wars, elections and the impact on students. Publishing both voter guides and the opinions of students.
Political expression was not only happening but encouraged through IWU’s Republican, Democrat and Libertarian clubs.
Students were not afraid of political expression, but with policy changes after 2012, and recently in 2024, political expression is non-existent on campus.
“Probably the biggest thing for national politics, I think, was 9/11. That happened the first year I started teaching here, and so there was a lot of campus engagement,” said Dr. Conrad, professor of political science. “I remember when 9/11 happened, there was a student who got up on the table in Baldwin…and said we just need to pray for our leaders right now.”
Dr. Conrad used to write a column for the Journal called “Direction” in the 1980s.
IWU students got heavily involved with politics, with the first College Conservative club being founded around 1980 by student Abby McFetters.
In 1980, the club helped campaign for then-candidate Dan Quayle’s senatorial election campaign.
“Cold, brisk weather on Saturday, Oct. 25, didn’t’ stop Marion College students from joining over 75 Republicans at the state-wide literature blitz in downtown Marion,” wrote Linda MacKay in 1980.
The Journal published voter guides until the 1996 election, which was the year President Bill Clinton took office.
In that Nov. 1 publication, the Journal published the opinions of six IWU students, who all were going to vote for Bob Dole. Four of them are shown below.
Similarly, in 2004, when President Bush was elected, Ryan Johnson, former staff writer for The Sojourn, talked to the presidents of the College Republican and Democrat Clubs.
“Derek Allan (sr.), President of IWU Dems, says he was ‘not surprised with the result. That was my gut instinct.’ Allen also expressed sadness at his party’s generally poor performance nationwide, saying ‘the Democrats were basically swept out of office.”
It was easy for IWU students to share their political values, and the campus having three major political clubs helped with the discourse.
“College Libertarians, for example, helped promote a local Libertarian candidate when it was active, former group president Brian Bither said,” wrote Navar Watson, former editor-in-chief of the Sojourn (2015). “Having students represent different political parties and their positions forces others to think deeper, Bither said.”
Conrad has been pushing his students to think deeply about politics and spoke about this before Bither had their interview in 2015.
In 2012, Conrad helped organize a mock presidential debate with his American Government class, and the students represented their favored candidate.
“Conrad said he was excited for the students standing up for their political viewpoints; ‘For the most part, they were good supporters of their candidate, and that made it more interesting. They were really speaking passionately about a candidate that they hope people will vote for,’” wrote Shaye Pennington, a former contributing writer for The Sojourn.
Pennington concluded their article with a quote from Conrad, expressing that he hoped there would be another opportunity for students to openly discuss important political topics.
There is no record of there being a second mock presidential debate.
“I do think our campus today is very fundamentally different from when I was a student, and in some ways, things are certainly better,” said Conrad.
Conrad said that the Student Center used to be on the upper floor of an old house and that the facilities are better.
“I think what we’ve lost is just that ability for students to feel like we can talk about things, and we can write things in the paper that maybe the administration doesn’t even like,” said Conrad.
There may be a change coming, however. Keagan Rice (sr.) has started work on a new Conservative Club.
The new Conservative Club aims to be associated with national and local clubs, like IWU’s Pro-Life Club.
“I think that a lot of what we’re seeing in our world is that we’re not having the same kind of conversations with people, especially those we disagree with,” said Rice. “I think really at the core of it is when, when people we disagree with stop talking, they become other to us.”
Right now, the Conservative Club is in the process of getting approved by the Student Government Association.
No current news on a potential College Democrat or Libertarian club exists.
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