By Jasmyne Ray
As the only female political science professor at UM, Dr. Andrea Eckleman is as passionate about her discipline as she is about encouraging female students to take an active role in politics, both national and local. On Thursday, Nov. 2, Dr. Eckleman gave a presentation on women and politics in the J.A. Brown room of Carmichael library.
The Montevallo branch of the American Association of University Women assisted with putting the presentation together, saying the idea for it came with Dr. Eckleman’s arrival on campus last year and membership in the organization.
“Immediately, we kind of began to talk about her research interests, which are women in politics, so that really was kind of in line with AAUW’s mission.” Amanda Melcher, president of the Montevallo branch of AAUW, said.
Talking points for the presentation ranged from the importance of female representation in politics to reasons women should want to get involved in politics. Dr. Eckleman also addressed the importance of voting in local elections.
“50 or 60 votes breaks a local election and I think that recognizing that and recognizing that power that you have is really, really important.” Dr. Eckleman said.
The university has student organizations for the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian political parties; all of which, have profiles interested students can view through OrgSync. With Dec 12, Alabama’s senate election day, quickly coming up, students who are of voting age should register by Nov 27.
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