Courtesy of Road to the White House website
By James Bennett III
Jacob Terrell is not a traditional student.
After earning his associate degree in environmental studies from Southern Illinois University, the 32-year-old focused on experiences rather than carving out a career path. He traveled across the country and went to music festivals like Lollapalooza and Electric Forest while working jobs in the service industry.
Hungry for more, and in the wake of the 2016 presidential election, Terrell decided to return to college in 2018 to pursue a bachelor’s degree in political science.
On Feb. 2, Terrell was one of 29 USF students who left for a 10-day trip to New Hampshire to assist in presidential primary campaign efforts through the university’s “Road to the White House” class. New Hampshire’s primary is on Feb. 11.
Although the final five days of campaigning during the primary election will be the most intense, Professor Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan said she’s taking the class up early so they can see how their campaigns react to the Iowa caucus on Feb. 3.
The course only comes around every four years, during the presidential primaries. It’s so sought-after that students in the class had to submit a written application before going through an interview and reference checks. By the time McLauchlan cut off the applications on the Google forum, roughly 60 people had applied.
The class is worth six credits. The New Hampshire trip counts as three internship credits, while the majority of the semester is spent working on seminar credits.
The seminar portion of the class has already begun and has included student presentations on each presidential candidate. McLauchlan said she still plans on covering topics such as campaign financing, the electoral college and polling.
For the internship portion, the students are divided among eight campaigns, including former Vice President Joe Biden; Pete Buttigieg, former Democratic mayor of South Bend, IN; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-MN; Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-VT; President Donald Trump; Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA; Andrew Yang; and the New Hampshire GOP.
Each student was given the opportunity to choose which campaign they would work for. Bernie Sanders was the most popular candidate, with nine students.
The students have been warned that they need to be prepared to work from 6 a.m. until midnight each night. Although it’s unlikely they’ll have to work for the entirety of that time frame, McLauchlan wants the students to get the most out of their time in New Hampshire.
Some students may need to be at their campaign offices at 5 a.m. on election day.
Terrell will be working with the Elizabeth Warren campaign team. He chose to work with Warren’s team because he said she’s tough on corporate greed.
posed with a USF St. Petersburg T-shirt
at a campaign event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Five days later,
he handily won the state’s Republican primary
with 35.3 percent of the vote,
defeating a crowded field that included
former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.
Courtesy of Road to the White House
“There’s just so much about her that it’s like, if everyone was like that, the world could just be a better place,” he said.
Luckily, the “Road to the White House” class doesn’t plan on spending the entire trip canvassing.
Their itinerary also includes a tour of New Hampshire’s statehouse; a visit to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics; sitting in on an Executive Council meeting (over which the Governor presides); and visiting the Democratic Party Headquarters. They also plan on meeting with the New Hampshire Republican Party and the Secretary of State.
Although it isn’t set in stone yet, McLauchlan is also trying to get the class to a Trump rally and make sure the Democrat students are able to go to the 61st annual McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner.
McLauchlan said she started the class in 2004 because she wanted students to have hands-on experience working at the New Hampshire primary rather than just sitting through a lecture about presidential campaigns.
It took her about one year to organize this year’s class.
“The commitment of time it takes to teach these kinds of classes is extraordinary,” McLauchlan said. “I do it because I’m really passionate about it. And I really love it. And I love New Hampshire and the primary.”
Although the outcome of Florida’s general election is “incredibly important,” according to McLauchlan, students would not be able to participate in a grassroots campaign of the same degree as New Hampshire if the class stayed in Florida.
“There’s really nothing like it. There’s no substitute. It is exhilarating,” McLauchlan said. “It’s so intense, and I’m trying to prepare (the students) for that.”
Other than the real-world experience that comes along with enrolling in the class, some students were drawn to the class by McLauchlan’s connections and expertise.
After studying and working as a teaching assistant at Rutgers University for six years, McLauchlan worked in the White House for both of former President Bill Clinton’s terms, and has worked on several presidential campaigns, including Al Gore’s. She also worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Justice Department for the U.S. Supreme Court.
There are students from multiple majors and from both USF St. Petersburg and Tampa enrolled in the course.
Jadzia “Jazzy” Duarte, USF St. Petersburg’s Student Government president, is working with the Amy Klobuchar team. Duarte said she was attracted to the Klobuchar because she’s running a more personalized campaign than other “mainstream” candidates. Duarte also appreciates Klobuchar’s female empowerment and her environmental agenda.
Since nine USF St. Petersburg SG members are going on the trip, SG members who are staying on campus will take on more responsibilities during the trip. For example, Michael Johnson, the newly elected senate president pro tempore, will lead the SG general assembly while Veronica Jimenez, the newly elected senate president, is out of town.
If you would like to follow the class’ progress throughout the trip, a class blog and individual student blogs are available through the university’s website. Students will also take turns representing their campaigns on the @iam_usfsp Instagram page.
