Local Students Get Political As Country Heads Into Heated Presidential Election
It’s finals week for several colleges in Santa Barbara County, but it’s not stopping students from paying attention to the presidential race.
Since the presidential hopefuls announced their campaigns, there has not been a boring day.
“It’s the weirdest presidential race certainly in my lifetime and the whole idea of Trump being the last man standing just seemed unbelievable,” said Mark Juergensmeyer, a sociology and global studies professor at UC Santa Barbara.
Juergensmeyer says 80% percent of his students are Bernie Sanders supporters. Their second pick is Hillary Clinton.
“As someone who lived in the 60’s and an old activist, I really like to see people really engage and interested and I see that this year,” said Juergensmeyer.
He enjoys watching people debate over their candidates, but he has yet to meet a Trump supporter on campus.
“Students may resonate with Trump and that he’s addressing issues that they like, but they may not be so bold to get into confrontation which would certainly ensue if they actually spoke up,” said Juergensmeyer.
15 miles away from UC Santa Barbara, there is a big population of Donald Trump supporters at Westmont College.
Jake Lopez, a 20-year-old sophomore, isn’t afraid to voice his support for the business mogul. He drove to Orange County last week to watch Trump speak, but couldn’t make it in the venue because of a violent protest.
“Protesters who shut down Mr. Trump’s right to free speech. It’s really sad to see something like that happen. It’s really Un-American and I encourage people who disagree with our side to disagree respectfully and don’t shut down free speech,” said Jake Lopez, the director of Students for Trump.
Lopez supports Trump’s policies.
“We need to have a strong central border that welcomes people to our country legally, we want people to come to to our country, but we want them to come legally and become Americans,” said Lopez.
Lopez says he would thank Trump for bringing back free speech and for making people interested in politics again.
