Rally for Women in Charge

To rally potential voters on campus, the Minnesota State’s College Dems hosted a rally and concert titled “Put a Woman in Charge,” in the EJ Halling Recital Hall Tuesday where several elected women officials and candidates were in attendance to speak on the upcoming election and discuss the importance of voting among college aged-women, along with featured performances from women musicians. 

President of Students for Reproductive Justice Deyton Drost and vice president Avalon Luehman both served as emcees for the event where they introduced the speakers and performers while also listing significant statements about the ongoing fight for women’s reproductive rights. 

Luehman shared what the planning process was like for the rally and concert, saying that “there was a lot of logistics and a lot of different people all working together.”

“It was kind of hectic. Working with everyone’s schedules, making sure everyone was on the same page, that we all knew what was going on. A lot of things were changing as well in the background so it was adapting scripts and order of performance to all the changes,” Luehman said. 

In addition to the College Dems, Students for Reproductive Justice also collaborated with the Blue Earth County DFL and received support from both the LGBT Center and the Women’s Center. Drost said that by working with different organizations and seeing how they make decisions, it created an engaging and interesting experience. 

“It was really good, because we haven’t really done any collaborations in the past, to be completely honest, because our group is so new that last year, we really focused on getting the group started and off the ground so now that we’re actually able to collaborate, we can put a nice, new experience,” Drost said. 

With 33 days left until Election Day, Drost and Luehman discuss why it was overall important to have the rally on campus as many college students, specifically women, hold the power to make an impact with their vote and their voice. 

“The main demographic or target audience is young college-aged women. Because, our generation really does have the power to fight for our rights this November. And I think if we can get a lot of people together, especially college students, that have the right to do so, we can make some changes with this district specifically,” Drost said. 

“With the ballot this November, our reproductive rights are at stake and reproductive rights is a human right, and women have been left out of politics for far too long, and we want to get young, college-aged women to hear how important they are,” Luehman said. “How valuable their voices are, and how we can come together and use our vote to make sure that we have one, women in office and two, make sure we’re voting for women that want to protect our reproductive rights.”

Since the rally was also a concert, the featured performers at the event were duo Hannah Cesario and Kristie Campana, duo Mal Murphy and Christa Bohlman, Stephanie Thorpe, Ann Fee and Laura Schultz. 

Between the performances, speakers came on stage to address the audience, such as Sara Nett who is running for Minnesota House of Representatives to represent District 22B, Marisa Ulmen who is running for Minnesota House of Representatives District 22A and Julie Blaha who has been serving as the state auditor of Minnesota since 2019. 

Rachel Bohman, who is running for election to the U.S, House to represent Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, was also in attendance and spoke on the power that college students have on the upcoming election. 

“I think about all the young people that are here in this university and the world, and the difference that they will have the power to influence in their lifetime. I think about how inspired I am every single day by the men and women in this college and across this district and other colleges. There are 44 million Gen-Zers. They have the power this November to make such an impact on our election.” Bohman said. 

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who was not able to make it in person, sent in a video discussing the legacy of hard work that women have done for the past few years. 

“I was raised by an incredibly strong woman who taught me that we need to fight for each other, we need to stand up for each other. And that is a legacy that she left in me and certainly in my daughter. We lost my mom right after the election in 2022 and I miss her every day,” Flanagan said. “But I know that ensuring that our young people have access to breakfast and lunch when we pass paid family and medical leave, when we protected access to abortion care, that all continues the good work of my mom and so many other women who have laid a path for all of us. Now it’s our turn.”

As the voter registration deadline approaches, Drost and Luehman offer advice to MSU students who are planning to register to vote for the first time. 

“Do your research. Make a decision that is best for you and be informed about what it is and who it is that you’re voting for,” Luehman said. 

“There’s no excuse. If you don’t know who somebody is, then look them up,” Drost said. 

Voter registration for Minnesota ends on Oct. 15. If anyone is interested in registering or checking their registration, visit www.vote.gov 

Photo Caption: The MSU College Dems hosted a rally and concert titled “Put a Woman in Charge,” where elected women officials and candidates were in attendance to speak on the upcoming election, along with featured performances from women musicians. (Troy Yang/The Reporter)

Write to Anahi Zuniga at anahi.zuniga@mnsu.edu