Students are still encouraged to vote despite Mayor Gavin Newsom’s rally cancellation Monday.
Nareg Babaians, the vice president-elect of the Young Democrats Club, said they had to turn away supporters from the Matador Square and although the cancellation of the Rock the Vote Rally with Mayor Newsom was discouraging, he still encourages students to get out and vote today.
“We can’t take the cancellation personally or (let it) bring us down,” Babaians said. “We worked on the event for a good part of this past month, but it happens, and it’s like when the other team scores during a game — you kind of have to get up and work a little bit harder. There are a lot of issues on the ballot and we really want CSUN to get out and vote.”
The student organization released a statement Friday in hopes of contacting all of those who were planning on attending. In the statement, the Young Democrats Club let the community know of the cancellation.
After the release of the statement, the organization was surprised and happy to see supporters on campus Monday, but had to unfortunately let them know that the rally was cancelled, Babaians said.
“The Newsom campaign let us know Friday afternoon of the unforeseen circumstances,” said Babaians, 19, political science major. “He (the political director of the Gavin Newsom Campaign) didn’t just blow CSUN off. They had to cancel Newsom’s appearances at University of California, Irvine and University of California, Santa Barbara. They were very professional and we understand that in politics, stuff like this happens.”
The Young Democrats Club and the Newsom Campaign both apologize to those who were anticipating the Rock the Vote Rally with Mayor Newsom, Babaians said.
“It really is kind of disappointing that Mayor Newsom had to cancel on such short notice,” said Gisselle Puga, 19, psychology major. ”I didn’t even know he cancelled until the day of the rally when I passed Matador Walk. I know some students are unaware and uninvolved when it comes to politics and his appearance at the rally during peak hours for students would have really helped with their political involvement.”
Nathan Torian, 24, mechanical engineering major, agreed with Puga.
“I feel he’s missing out on influencing a lot of potential voters,” Torian said. “His appearance and proactiveness among the younger vote really could have affected the numbers on a lot of issues, especially for those who don’t know which way to vote on the issues.”
The Young Democrats Club’s presence on campus has been quiet lately, Babaians said.
He added that they are just reviving CSUN’s chapter and that the campus should expect more political involvement as the student organization tries to have more rallies and political speakers on campus.
“Students are often apathetic to politics and it’s sad,” Babaians said. “You may not be interested in politics, but that doesn’t mean politics isn’t interested in you, because it is.”
