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ORU Students Campaign in Denver

By Jessica Allen (Class of 2003)

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Click Photo to Enlarge It took three vans and 12 hours to get to Denver.

Click Photo to Enlarge Anna Wagner, Angela Hill, campaign staff members Colin Campbell and Vicki Constantine, and Mackenzie Smith are ready for a press conference for candidates, held near the capitol.

Click Photo to Enlarge Congressional candidate Bob Beauprez (second from left) poses with ORU students and with Congressman Roy Blunt of Missouri. Anna Wagner (left), a government major and first-year honors fellow who has worked on several political campaigns, said the trip to Denver was "a good experience. It helped the students learn what's involved in campaigning."

Click Photo to Enlarge Colorado Governor Bill Owens speaks to student volunteers at campaign headquarters.

Click Photo to Enlarge Colorado Governor Bill Owens speaks to student volunteers at campaign headquarters.

Click Photo to Enlarge Students provided background noise for a radio interview on the steps of the capitol.

Click Photo to Enlarge Outside a Denver TV station, students made lots of noise in support of Gov. Owens.

hirty ORU students volunteered to work for the Republican National Committee in Denver, Colo., over fall break. They spent the week of Oct. 14-18 campaigning for Bob Beauprez in the 7th Congressional District, as well as Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and U.S. Senator Wayne Allard.

The students did not know which politicians they would assist prior to the trip, but soon learned about the platforms of each of the candidates. They compiled and distributed campaign literature, attended rallies, and helped with mailings.

"The political director and volunteer director for the RNC extended this opportunity to our students because they felt they could be trusted with this important work, and because our state does not have a hotly contested congressional race that requires a large number of volunteers," said government professor Dr. Tim Brooker, who coordinated the trip. His son, Brandon, was among the students that went to Denver.

"We just helped out where we were needed. They didn't know at first how they would use us, but they made sure that we knew what we were doing," said Brooker, a sophomore who is double-majoring in marketing and government. "I learned that running a campaign is a very time-consuming process."

Some of the highlights of the experience included spending several hours with Governor Owens, breakfast with Congressional candidate Bob Beauprez, and a private policy briefing with the Deputy Majority Whip, Roy Blunt.

"They're real people," said junior Zlatka Atanassova, a business management major. "You see them on TV, but we got to see them in real life."

Atanassova, who is from Bulgaria, noted the differences in the campaign process. "It's really different," she said of the U.S. system. "In Bulgaria we have a parliamentary republic with prime ministers."

Her favorite aspect of the trip was talking to people and watching the candidates serving them. She spoke to a homeless man who had met Gov. Owens at a soup kitchen one Thanksgiving. "'I just remember this person serving me,' he said. I was thinking, this is a second- and third-year governor, and he has time to serve food at a shelter," Atanassova recalled.

Both Brooker and Atanassova feel that they will eventually work in politics. Atanassova learned about the opportunity to go to Denver through her Christian Faith and Government class, which is taught by Dr. Brooker. She added, "I learned a lot from Dr. Brooker. He took the thirty of us--all different nationalities, different characters...different people--and he made us excited about it. Not just for a few days--for the whole week."