Election Resources Guide

• 3 - 4 p.m.: Decision 2020 (Open session). Hosted by SMC A.S. California propositions open discussion. Learn about the CA propositions and hear different perspectives. 
  
  
• 4 - 5 p.m.: Voting 101 (Open session)
  • Find your Vote Center
  • Learn more about same-day voter registration (Conditional Voter Registration) 
  • How to research candidates/measures/props
  • Voter resources…and so much more!

• 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: DREAM Program Pre-Election Check-In. Come chat with DREAM Counselor, Victoria, on your thoughts and feelings about the upcoming election.
  
  
• 12 - 1 p.m.: How to Find Quality News About the 2020 Election. (Open session). Discussion and Q&A led by SMC Journalism/Media Studies Professor Sharyn Obsatz and journalist Minerva Canto about how the news media cover elections and the difference between news reporting and commentary/analysis. We also will focus on how social media has increased partisan information and where to look for higher quality information.

• • SMC Professor Sharyn Obsatz is a bilingual journalist who has covered city and county elections for newsrooms in California and New Mexico. She has taught journalism and media studies for 19 years, including at SMC, UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton. 
  • Minerva Canto is a bilingual journalist who has worked for the Associated Press and newspapers in California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, covering beats that included immigration, arts, crime and courts. She has written freelance stories about social issues for online media such as VICE, CALMatters, and Sojourners. A native of Mexico City, she also has reported throughout Mexico, including covering a presidential campaign. Other election coverage includes covering the Democratic and Republican national conventions, writing about ballot measures, interviewing voters on Election Day and covering breaking news on election night.
    
    
• 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.: Voting 101 (Open session) 
  • Find your Vote Center 
  • Learn more about same-day voter registration (Conditional Voter Registration) 
  • How to research candidates/measures/props  
  • Voter resources…and so much more!

• 11:15 a.m. to 12:35 p.m.: Election Day Conversation. SMC's Public Policy Institute and The Broad Stage invite you to join performance artist and activist Kristina Wong for a conversation on Election Day.  (Open session)  
  • View her show "Kristina Wong for Public Office" online between October 30 at 8 p.m. (PT) and November 3 at 11 a.m.
  • The Broad Stage co-presents this performance with Center Theater Group. 
    
    
• 11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: Peer to Peer Election Chat(Open session: meeting ID: 706 573 1780, passcode: smc). Learn about Active Minds and self-care during the election. We will be discussing individual tips to manage stress and provide several great resources concerning the election.  

• 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.: MOCAN (Men of Color Action Network) Post-Election Space. A place for students, staff, and faculty of color to check-in after the election.  The space is hosted by men of color at SMC and is open to all our students, staff, and faculty of color. Email Dr. Paul Jimenez for more information.
  
  
• 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.: APIDA Post-Election Space. A place for students, staff, and faculty of color to check-in after the election. The space is hosted by Asian Pacific Islander Desi American staff and faculty at SMC and is open to all our students, staff, and faculty of color. 
  
  
• 12 - 1:30 p.m. Black Collegians and Adelante Post-Election Space (current members only). A space to process the early results/outcomes of the election for both Adelante and Black Collegians students together. Email Sherri Bradford or Maria Martinez for more information.
  
  
• 12 - 2 p.m.: Latinx Collective. A place for students, staff, and faculty of color to check-in after the election. The space is hosted by Latinx Faculty and Staff at SMC and is open to all our students, staff, and faculty of color. Email Dr. Paul Jimenez for more information.
  
  
• 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.: Blackalante Healing Circle (Black Collegians and Adelante members only). A space where students in both programs can process feelings/emotions surrounding the election with Black Collegians/Latino Center therapist Thea Winkler. Email Sherri Bradford or Maria Martinez for more information.

Student Equity Center Post-Election Spaces

• 3 - 4 p.m.: Racial Justice Center. This forum provides a space for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and their allies to discuss the impact of the election.
  
  
• 3 - 4 p.m: Pride Center. This forum provides a space for LGBTQ+ individuals and their allies to discuss the impact of the election.
  
  
• 3 - 4 p.m.: Gender Equity Center. This forum provides a space for female-identified individuals and their allies to discuss the impact of the election.
  
  
• 3 - 4 p.m.: DREAM Program Post-Election Check-In. Come chat with DREAM Program counselors and staff on your thoughts and feelings about the election.

• 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: Drop-in Mindfulness Meditation (open session). Join in a mindfulness break from election stress to help reduce anxiety and increase relaxation.
  
  
• 1 - 2:30 p.m.: Black Collegians and Adelante (current members only). A space to process the early results/outcomes of the election for both Adelante and Black Collegians students together. Email Sherri Bradford or Maria Martinez for more information.
   
• 1 - 3 p.m. SMC Community Teach-In Fall 2020. Human Rights & The Pandemic. RSVP required. Sponsored by the Global Citizenship Committee.
  
  
• 2 - 4 p.m.: MOCAN (Men of Color Action Network) Post-Election Session. A place for students, staff, and faculty of color to check-in after the election. The space is hosted by men of color at SMC and is open to all our students, staff, and faculty of color. Email Dr. Paul Jimenez for more information.
  
  
• 2:30 - 3:30 p.m.: DREAM Program Post-Election Check-In. Come chat with DREAM Program counselors and staff on your thoughts and feelings about the election.
  
  

• 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.: EOPS/CARE, Guardian Scholars, CalWORKs and Pico Partnership Post-Election Check-In. Come be in community with counselors and staff from the special programs to discuss your thoughts and feelings about the election.
  
  

• 4 - 6 p.m.: Latinx Collective.  A place for students, staff, and faculty of color to check-in after the election. The space is hosted by Latinx Faculty and Staff at SMC and is open to all our students, staff, and faculty of color. Email Dr. Paul Jimenez for more information.

• 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.: MOCAN (Men of Color Action Network) Post-Election Space. A place for students, staff, and faculty of color to check-in after the election. The space is hosted by men of color at SMC and is open to all our students, staff, and faculty of color. Email Dr. Paul Jimenez for more information.
   
• 1 - 3 p.m.: Latinx Collective. A place for students, staff, and faculty of color to check-in after the election. The space is hosted by Latinx Faculty and Staff at SMC and is open to all our students, staff, and faculty of color. Email Dr. Paul Jimenez for more information.

Student Equity Center Post-Election Spaces 

• 3 - 4 p.m.: Racial Justice Center. This forum provides a space for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and their allies to discuss the impact of the election.
   
• 3 - 4 p.m.: Pride Center. This forum provides a space for LGBTQ+ individuals and their allies to discuss the impact of the election.
   
• 3 - 4 p.m.: Gender Equity Center. This forum provides a space for female-identified individuals and their allies to discuss the impact of the election.

• 5 p.m.: DREAM/CARECEN Post-Election Town Hall. CARECEN, LA's Community College Legal Services Project, in conjunction with the SMC DREAM Program, invite undocumented and documented students to a Post-Election Webinar. The purpose of this virtual meeting is to listen to the immigrant community and help them navigate the election results and likely uncertainty of the outcome. Program segments will include Know Your Rights, Actions to Take Post-Election, and time for any and all of your questions to be answered. A special emphasis will be placed on Mental Wellness in Uncertain Times. After the presentation special break-out groups on these topics will be available for students to attend and receive more personal attention. Information gathered from questions below are kept confidential by CARECEN LA's College Legal Services Project and only the biographical information will be used for funding purposes.

• 5- 6 p.m.: Civic Engagement After the Election (Open session).

  SMC Public Policy Institute, Student Equity Center, and Associated Students invite SMC students, faculty, and staff to join a conversation to discuss the issues they care about.  We can think creatively together and make connections to the organizations and people doing that work, and figure out next steps to shape a more just world.

• 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.: APIDA Post-Election Space. A place for students, staff, and faculty of color to check-in after the election. The space is hosted by Asian Pacific Islander Desi American staff and faculty at SMC and is open to all our students, staff, and faculty of color. 

• 11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: Drop-in Mindfulness Meditation (Open session). Join in a mindfulness break from election stress to help reduce anxiety and increase relaxation.
   
• 3 - 4 p.m.: Student Equity Center Election Town Hall (Open session). This town hall provides a space for everyone to gather and discuss the election

Dear Faculty,

As Election Day nears, I hope we will extend grace to our students as we participate in a meaningful, consequential moment in our nation’s history. Poll lines will be long, the anticipation will be palpable, and students, like all of us, will be thinking and feeling deeply through Nov. 3^rd and beyond as we await the election results. In the days that follow, healing conversations will be necessary. Whatever happens next week, it will be felt in the classroom.

If you have not already planned for the election in your classroom, please consider the following activities for Tuesday and next week generally:

• Send an announcement to your students on Sunday or Monday letting them know you understand the complexity of these times and that you and the campus are here to support them. 
• On Nov. 3^rd, so that your students may participate in the election, however long it takes, please consider asynchronous class activities. A student should not have to choose between voting and completing coursework.
• Given the intense civic engagement expected through election week, please consider being flexible on due dates.
• The election process and its outcome will be on your students’ minds; consider holding discussions in class and engaging students’ concerns; please advertise campus forums and resources for your students needing support.

Since you may be wondering how to safely engage students on such a charged issue as the 2020 election, you may find the following resources useful in your own classroom:

• Teaching in Response to the Election
• Teaching: Can Colleges Prepare Students for the Election and Its Aftermath? 
• Preparing to Teach about the 2020 Election (and after)*
  *Additional resources can be found at this site. 

In addition to these comprehensive resources, here is a link to the workshops and forums occurring pre- and post-election as well as the SMC 2020 Election Resource Guide (this page).

We understand it’s not easy to facilitate this kind of conversation, but students have told us that having a professor acknowledge what is happening and creating space for reflection and dialogue helps them process as well gives them a greater sense of community. It is particularly important that our most marginalized students feel that the space with you is one where they can feel safe and valued.

Lastly, we hope you, our faculty colleagues, will take care of yourselves during these challenging weeks. We thank you for caring for our students.

Jason Beardsley
Dean, Academic Affairs (Interim)

Nate Donahue
President, Academic Senate

• Election Resources Guide
• Teaching in Response to the Election
• The Chronicle of Higher Education 
• Preparing to Teach About the 2020 Election (and After)