Making the Decision to Run at Stony Brook Univeristy

Suffolk County, New York, legislator Kara Hahn talks about her experience in politics with two Stony Brook University students.

On March 9^th, approximately 50 student leaders participated in Stony Brook University’s first Elect Her—Campus Women Win training. Students and staff from campus teamed up with their local AAUW chapter from Smithtown to implement a powerful meeting of women from all generations. The President’s office strongly supported the event and all participants received engraved business card holders to use for practicing their new networking skills.

Students met role models such as Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn and Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice.  Kathleen Rice shared that losing is more important than winning and truly prepares you for your next race.  She explained that losing can be a good check in for your ego.

Additionally, students learned from their peers who were currently serving in student government. Executive Vice President Deborah Machalow emphasized how students can truly start to close the political leadership gap by running now for student government. Deborah declared that she hopes to continue to run for office someday in national politics, and felt that serving in student government is the best way to prepare for such a career. She also shared her campaign advice that meeting as many students as possible face to face is the best way to win.

Associate Dean Marcy McGinnis from the School of Journalism spoke about communicating effectively when running for office.  She provided the great advice to always remember who your audience is when you’re speaking, and to meet them where they are coming from.

Congratulations to Miraflore Joseph for winning the campaign simulation!  Miraflore was not shy and introduced herself to many students which led to her success.

No coincidence, the date of the training was also the filing deadline to run for this year’s student government elections. We know this Elect Her was a success because at least five students who were on the fence about deciding to run at the beginning of the training ended up filing for their campaign by the end of the day!

This post was written by Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN) Executive Director Pamela O’Leary.