PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Akeem Pollock, Student from York College (CUNY) on Engaging CUNY Students in Voting and Civic Activities
1:17:00
·
3 min
Akeem Pollock, a student from York College, testifies about the challenges CUNY students face in civic engagement and voting. He emphasizes the lack of awareness about existing programs and the need for more comprehensive civic education beyond just voter registration.
- Highlights the importance of free MetroCards for CUNY students to improve access to civic education programs and voting locations
- Criticizes current voter registration efforts for not providing enough information about candidates and policies
- Advocates for more accessible and informative civic education programs across CUNY campuses
Akeem Pollock
1:17:00
I'm going first.
1:17:01
Yeah.
1:17:01
Yeah.
1:17:02
Hi.
1:17:02
Greetings, members of the committee.
1:17:04
I am Akim from York College in Queens.
1:17:09
It's Akim School, of course.
1:17:11
And today, my testimony will be surrounding our topics, engaging community students in the voting and civic activities.
1:17:21
You know, just being here, I you know, I heard from the the the previous panel of the the CUNY administrators.
1:17:28
And, you know, it just it just alarmed me a lot of the times we have these, you know, programs, these civic programs, that we create to kind of promote this kind of activity.
1:17:41
But in cases of students like me, we don't know about it.
1:17:44
You know?
1:17:45
And that is one of the biggest issues, communication.
1:17:50
Additionally, I wanted to touch on the fact that these civic education programs sometimes are just limited to come and register to vote.
1:17:59
These students don't know what they're voting for.
1:18:02
They have no idea who is even running, and believe me, they're students who they only know this because of these memes going around with the the debate and all of that.
1:18:11
You know, that's when they really got intune into what's happening.
1:18:15
But even leading up to you, they have no idea.
1:18:17
They have no idea on how these whether these these politicians where they stand, their policy objectives, all of that.
1:18:26
It's just not there.
1:18:27
They just don't know.
1:18:28
And sometimes it feels like these registration efforts are just just go vote.
1:18:33
Where there's no idea about, you know, what am I voting for.
1:18:37
And I feel like civic education is needed in that case.
1:18:40
Additionally, I'm a part of the university student senate, and one of our key objectives this year has to do with removing the barriers of transportation for CUNY students.
1:18:51
We're supporting free metro card free metro cards for all CUNY students.
1:18:56
And I I realized that I could tie this into voting because we want to have more civic education programs.
1:19:04
You could hear, for example, McAuley honors colleges offering these programs, but how does a York student get there?
1:19:11
You know, it's a lot of money to pay for that.
1:19:14
If you don't qualify, for one of the ASAP or ACE programs.
1:19:18
And it's important to especially know to start that free metro cards thing for community students.
1:19:27
The Department of Transportation has it on their website.
1:19:31
In 2020, 10 transit companies or agencies across the entire United States gave same day free free riding or transportation to vote in areas.
1:19:45
And then I'm like, it's the same way.
1:19:48
No.
1:19:49
You need to give students that same day access, but that same day access needs to be everyday if you really want them a part of the civic and the entire voting process.
1:19:58
Because even after voting, you know, being engaged in community activities.
1:20:03
You spoke about community boards and all of that.
1:20:06
So, really, free metro cards, and we're hoping that that will help with helping the the vote
Eric Dinowitz
1:20:12
in.