2008 Woodie Awards
Emersonians join Boston's political fray
Paddy Shea
Issue date: 10/26/06 Section: News
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David Vaughan often spends the time between classes sending text messages and making phone calls, as many Emerson students do.
Unlike most, however, those texts and phone calls are part of Vaughan's job: getting Kerry Healey elected the next governor of Massachusetts.
Vaughan, a senior organizational and political communications major, is the deputy press secretary in Republican nominee Healey's campaign. Vaughan, who is also the chief justice of the Student Government Association (SGA), started interning for current governor Mitt Romney as a sophomore and was then hired as Romney's legislative director before joining the Healey campaign committee.
"I help write press releases-my area of focus is on public safety," Vaughan said in a telephone interview. "My job is to help craft the message once we know what we want to say."
Vaughan is representative of a cadre of Emerson students who are making important contributions as members of midterm election campaigns and as leaders in extracurricular organizations on campus.
Jamal Barone, president of the SGA, did advance work for Deval Patrick's primary campaign over the summer and is now a volunteer field coordinator for the Democratic nominee.
"I got to know [Patrick] pretty well," Barone, a senior marketing major, said. "He's a great candidate."
Students pulling this kind of double duty share several traits despite their opposing politics, like a dearth of free time.
Stephanie Ellis, president of an Emerson sorority and finance committee intern at MassVictory, the Democratic organization which contributes funds and volunteers to electing Patrick, says campaign internships are "intense because it's all over November 7th, no matter what happens. We've got 19 days left to elect Deval Patrick."
Ellis, a senior organizational and political communications major, knows the stress of these time constraints well, as this is her last semester before graduation. She spent all last Monday at the Patrick fundraiser where Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry all praised the candidate, which she said was "absolutely amazing." Then she had to go home and study for two tests the next day.
Unlike most, however, those texts and phone calls are part of Vaughan's job: getting Kerry Healey elected the next governor of Massachusetts.
Vaughan, a senior organizational and political communications major, is the deputy press secretary in Republican nominee Healey's campaign. Vaughan, who is also the chief justice of the Student Government Association (SGA), started interning for current governor Mitt Romney as a sophomore and was then hired as Romney's legislative director before joining the Healey campaign committee.
"I help write press releases-my area of focus is on public safety," Vaughan said in a telephone interview. "My job is to help craft the message once we know what we want to say."
Vaughan is representative of a cadre of Emerson students who are making important contributions as members of midterm election campaigns and as leaders in extracurricular organizations on campus.
Jamal Barone, president of the SGA, did advance work for Deval Patrick's primary campaign over the summer and is now a volunteer field coordinator for the Democratic nominee.
"I got to know [Patrick] pretty well," Barone, a senior marketing major, said. "He's a great candidate."
Students pulling this kind of double duty share several traits despite their opposing politics, like a dearth of free time.
Stephanie Ellis, president of an Emerson sorority and finance committee intern at MassVictory, the Democratic organization which contributes funds and volunteers to electing Patrick, says campaign internships are "intense because it's all over November 7th, no matter what happens. We've got 19 days left to elect Deval Patrick."
Ellis, a senior organizational and political communications major, knows the stress of these time constraints well, as this is her last semester before graduation. She spent all last Monday at the Patrick fundraiser where Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry all praised the candidate, which she said was "absolutely amazing." Then she had to go home and study for two tests the next day.
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