JACKSON, Miss.—Hundreds of students gathered inside the Jackson State University Student Union where a long line wrapped around the room leading to a table with Rotel dip, popcorn and party foods on Tuesday, Nov. 5. More students sat at round tables facing a giant screen tuned to CNN. An excited hum filled the air when the DJ paused the music for the host to speak.
“It’s still early,” comedian Rita Brent told the students. “Get some chicken. We have time.”
Laughter erupted from the crowd before the DJ turned the music back on.
“I think everybody’s excited,” First Lady LaToya Redd Thompson, who led efforts to increase voter participation at JSU this year, told the Mississippi Free Press during the watch party. “We started this morning with dorm storms, where several organizations came together and we went through the dorms. … The excitement built with the Stroll to the Polls, and I think as the night goes on and the election results start coming in, hopefully, the excitement will continue to build.”
In the back of the room, a group of students sat eating pizza and drinking sodas. They watched the results on a smaller television screen while comparing them to the Associated Press results on their phone.
“Harris just lost Florida,” Antonio Handy said, eliciting a groan from the rest of the table.
As the election results moved in Trump’s favor, the group began discussing Donald Trump’s stand on women’s reproductive rights, Project 2025 and his felony convictions.
Engaging a New Generation of Voters
The day’s events reflected First Lady Thompson’s efforts to engage the student body in this year’s election cycle. The practicing attorney and wife of the university president, Marcus Thompson, launched the JSU Rocks the Vote initiative earlier this year.
Thompson partnered with campus organizations such as JSU Votes, the JSU Chapter of the NAACP and Students Demand Action to host several events leading up to the election. As part of JSU’s Leadership and Legacy Speaker Series, it hosted a panel that discussed the importance of voting.
On Oct. 15, Thompson hosted a town hall meeting where guests engaged students in conversations about each candidate’s policies on education, health care and the economy. The event also included a Jeopardy game where student government association leaders represented their class answering questions on the power of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.
On Election Day, the university’s Sonic Boom of the South led Thompson, Brent, university administrators and students through the plaza to the voting precinct located in the Student Center. The marchers carried signs, wore t-shirts and yelled chants to promote voting.
Thompson’s efforts increased student participation in the election process. The university increased voter participation from 19 votes cast at the Jackson State precinct during the 2023 statewide elections to 531 for the Nov. 5 election. Another 200 students voted by affidavit ballot.
The university is also planning to inform students about the benefits of registering to vote on the college campus compared to being registered in their hometowns and voting absentee. Thompson said that with students expressing concerns about local issues such as the roads and water, she sees an opportunity to help them understand that where they vote does matter. Thompson hopes this will increase participation in the municipal elections.
“We are doing more of an educational effort to let them know to vote where you want. You exercise your right. We’re very happy about that,” Thompson said. “However, this is going to be your home for four years. You’re gonna need water here. You’re gonna drive on roads here. And so, you know, it’s to your benefit. It’s to the benefit of the institution if you vote here.”
Rita Brent said she was excited to see the momentum among the students.
“I think it’s important that freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors understand the importance of their vote,” Brent said during the mid-afternoon event on Nov. 5. “You know, typically, we associate elections just with older folks over 30 and 40 and the young folks think that they don’t have anything at stake, but they absolutely do. … These are issues that are going to affect students now and upon immediately graduating.”
Taking Up the Mantle
Students proudly shared that they represented LGBTQ+ students, the NAACP, sororities and other organizations on the campus. Rita Brent, who was a JSU student when then-presidential candidate Barack Obama spoke on the campus, said students understand the sacrifices that those who fought for voting rights made for them and are now beginning to carry the legacy themselves.
“When you think about folks like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, they were young when they were fighting for civil rights,” she said while standing on the Gibbs-Green Plaza. “So now is the best time to get started. And you know, this fight for justice and the fight for equality, it absolutely never ends. So I think the time is now and I think they see that. It’s very exciting.”
Kourtney Graves said she and her peers are up for the challenge. A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., of which Vice President Kamala Harris is a member, marched with her sorority sisters on the afternoon of Election Day. She said that having a woman of color and HBCU graduate on the ballot spoke volumes about what women can achieve.
“We are breaking down the barriers that we faced for years to come and showing that women—and not only women, but Black women—have the possibility of running the world and being in powerful positions to make changes,” Graves said.
At the watch party, several members of Alpha Kappa Alpha sat in the front row of tables. The ladies hugged LaToya Redd Thompson as she made the rounds in the crowded room.
“We try to associate a serious civic responsibility with what they consider to be (enjoyable), and we hope that combination settles in for them and is ingrained in them,” JSU’s first lady said. “And then when they leave here, they have good memories, and they think, yes, voting day, Election Day, and they’re excited about that when they are no longer here. That’s the hope.”
