By Maya Schaefer

With nearly 30% of Denisonians being varsity athletes, 35% affiliated with a Greek-lettered organization, and 160 campus organizations available to students, it seems that the trademark of Denisonians is being involved. Whether that takes its form in a double major, triple minor, or being a part of 6 different clubs, I always feel a sense of pressure to have an extensive list of extracurriculars on my resume. As 127 has begun examining Denisonians’ levels of interest and participation in the 2024 presidential election, I’ve wondered if there is any correlation between on-campus involvement and political interest.

In 127’s most recent survey, we asked questions regarding Denisonians’ likelihood of voting in the election and their level of political interest. We found that in October 2024, Denisonians had relatively high levels of interest in politics and political campaigns throughout the year. Of the nearly 500 students surveyed in October, 65% were moderately to extremely interested, compared to 21% who were slightly to not at all interested. 127 also looked at the political interest levels of students in 2020 and 2022 and found that in 2020, students were much more engaged – 86% of students were moderately to extremely interested. Students in 2024 were only modestly more interested than in the midterm election in 2022 when only 61% were moderately to extremely interested. It’s almost always true that presidential elections draw more attention than midterm elections, so a 21% decrease in interest from 2020 to 2024 is pretty notable.

This pattern of interest also appears in regards to Denisonians’ likelihood of political participation, when asked “If you are registered to vote, how likely are you to vote in the presidential election this year?” 70% of students reported that they would be likely to very likely to vote in the election. So it seems like Denisonians are pretty interested in politics and the presidential election, but it was near unanimous in 2020.

When we start factoring in campus involvement, it is clear that political interest among Denisonians has a positive correlation with the number of campus activities they are involved in. Interestingly, this correlation is most notable in the 1-4 activity range, while 0 and 5+ activities have similar results of moderate interest. This moderate interest at the lowest activity level could highlight a positive relationship between levels of interest and motivation in a variety of activities: academic, athletic, extracurricular, not just political. On the other hand, students who are almost over-involved, hitting 5+ activities, could feel more pre-occupied with all of their involvements, worrying less about the looming election.

Denisonians’ likelihood of voting is slightly less disparate across activity levels but still shows a positive correlation between number of involvements and political participation.

Looking deeper into the data and the actual categories that these activities fall into, some of the more obvious contenders take the lead in political interest: notably, members of social justice organizations and DCGA. At the other end of the spectrum, varsity and club athletes have almost identical numbers, and only slightly more interest than students involved in cross-cultural and spiritual life. I find it interesting that Greeks have a higher political interest than athletes and cross-cultural/spiritual life members. Perhaps this is due to fraternities and sororities being individually more diverse than smaller multicultural and religious groups. It could also be due to the diverse organizational makeup of Greek organizations on campus. Many have directives from their national organizations that require them to have special speakers or discussions on important issues like civic engagement, hazing, and career readiness. Multicultural and religious organizations might be more focused on a narrower scope of topics more closely related to their mission.

Regardless of the type of activities Denisonians are involved in, it seems likely the majority of students have high levels of political interest and participation. This is also evident as DU Votes, a student-run organization that encourages campus members to register and exercise their right to vote, was recognized as a Standout Nonpartisan Campus Student Voting Group by the 2023 national ALL IN Awards, while Denison as a whole was recognized as a Most Engaged Campus. We’ll continue to explore the behaviors of Denisonians and see how factors like on-campus involvement shape political interest and participation.

Maya Schaefer is a senior Politics and Public Affairs major with a Data for Political Research minor. She is avidly searching for post-grad opportunities to avoid being a babysitter for the rest of her life.