Anna De Simone — Contributor
U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that the House is initiating a formal impeachment into President Donald Trump on Sept. 24, was the leading topic of discussion for the SCSU College Democrats meeting on Wednesday.
Graphic design major Justin Gendron, a junior and SCSU College Democrats president, led a discussion on Sept. 25, where members were able to voice their thoughts and opinions on the impeachment proceeding, following the general portion of the meeting which covered upcoming SCSU College Democrats events on and off campus.
“I thought it was interesting because it gave Donald Trump something like a scarlet letter,” said Gendron.
Club members collectively laughed and agreed when Gendron said if former President William Clinton was impeached for participating in sexual acts with an employee in the White House, then there is not a reason why President Trump should not get impeached.
Political science secondary education major Irene Machia, junior and SCSU College Democrats member, said she felt as though the impeachment proceeding was the most interesting aspect of the meeting.
“It’s a current event that’s incredibly relevant,” said Machia.
Machia then said the impeachment proceeding was something that people have been feeling would occur soon based on recent events related to President Trump.
“It was cool to see how it’s gonna start, how it can go, and to hypothesize what’s gonna happen” she said.
Siobhan Davis, a senior psychology major, attended the SCSU College Democrats meeting for the first time on Wednesday because she said she wanted to meet new people and have a conversation about what is going on in current news.
Serving the country, protecting its greater interests, not using his power to further personal goals all qualities that Davis said she believes a president should have. Davis said the impeachment proceeding is an opportunity for people to realize how important it is to hold those in office accountable for their actions.
“The president should be a person who represents our values and our collective future goals, not a person that is self-centered and willing to blackmail other countries for personal gains,” said Davis.
Davis said she thinks the impeachment proceeding announcement was interesting and is intrigued to see how it will plays out in the U.S. Senate and in public opinion.
A Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement study found that American youths, aged 18-29, made up 13 percent of all votes in the 2018 House elections according to the preliminary national exit poll data.
Machia said she believes that college students should be politically engaged.
As a member of SCSU College Democrats, Machia said she wanted to actively go against the public’s discouragement of youth involvement in politics.
“We’re a demographic that has many opinions, yet lack the motivation to be involved,” said Machia.
Gendron said the main focus of the SCSU College Democrats is to emphasize the importance of voting and get people to vote because it’s the easiest thing to do.
“It’s so important that you vote because that’s how you affect change, and that’s how you kinda start at the local level and build your way up,” said Gendron.
