Dear professors, don’t punish us for going to see Obama

Everyone isn’t able to say they got to see their president give a speech. When it was announced that President Barack Obama would be campaigning on behalf of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton here at UNC, students were excited. Yet some were apprehensive to attend the event due to classes held during his appearance. UNC Young Democrats hosted the event in part with Hillary for America. Because of this, UNC was unable to cancel class in an effort to remain unbiased during this election cycle.

While most classes weren’t cancelled, many students (including me) missed class in order to attend the event. And although we made this conscious decision in order to see President Obama, professors should not penalize students for attending. I decided to attend after my TA told us we should all attend if we could hearing the president speak at a rally is a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.

This election cycle has been somewhat unusual to say the least. Both Clinton and Trump have run polarizing campaigns in hopes to be the next president of the United States. For UNC students, this is likely our first opportunity to vote during a presidential election, which can be pretty exciting.

The Clinton rally was focused on voter participation and state elections so it’s understandable why the Clinton campaign would target a college campus like UNC’s. College students are often busy with classes, work and involvement with student organizations. Having an event that emphasizes the importance of voting is great idea, regardless of one’s political affiliation. With our busy lives, college students may not prioritize voting on Election Day, which is why early voting is so clutch. Early voting allows us to go and vote during a time that works best for us.

It should not be a surprise that President Obama has often been a key speaker at campaign events. During both of his presidential campaigns, Obama was noted for energizing a younger voting base that political parties hadn’t tapped into.

President Obama came to UNC for more than just his strong speaking skills. He engaged our campus community and encouraged us all to vote not only for president, but for our state offices and the United States Senate representatives. Now that is something I’d consider worth skipping a class or two.

Photo: Brenna Elmore / The Tab

Opportunities to hear the president speak at your university don’t come often. So to all of the faculty out there, please don’t hate us for choosing President Obama over your calc lecture, we just wanted to see the president of the United States. We hope y’all understand.