With the 2024 US Presidential election approaching, SLU-Madrid’s faculty, including new rector Bill Johnson, are focused on its significance and what it means for not only the US, but the world.
“It is a big election with significant consequences,” Rector Johnson said. “That is true for any policy reason, economic reasons, and so on, geopolitical reasons. It is also potentially historic because we have an opportunity to elect the first woman of color as president of the U.S., and that’s a big deal.”
Johnson, who votes in Missouri, made sure to participate this year.
“I certainly did vote,” he said. “I sent in my absentee ballot several weeks ago to ensure it would arrive on time and I tracked it to be certain that it reached its intended destination—and it did.”
Rector Johnson is just one of many who have shared the importance of this election.
Due to polarized opinions in the U.S., the nation has become divided over who is fit to be the 47th president. Democrats and Republicans have never been in disagreement so much.
Both candidates have been heavily criticized, but supporters are being pressured to make a choice. For instance, the Democratic Party criticizes Donald Trump being convicted on 34 felony counts and his measures to reshape the American government, while the Republican Party often criticizes how Democrats have handled the economy and Mexican border. The tone of the next four years will be defined by whoever wins.
Vice Rector Francisco Garcia Serrano of SLU-Madrid, despite not being an American citizen, has a strong opinion on the election.
“Let’s put it this way,” he said. “I lived in Berkeley, California, for almost 10 years and Kamala Harris lived about three blocks from where I was living when I was a grad student, and her mother was a professor at Berkeley, so I think you can discern my answer.”
Vice Rector Garcia Serrano feels very strongly about the influence the election will have across the world.
“It is extremely important, not only for the United States but for the world—for international policies and relations and how American society will be evolving in the next four years,” says Garcia Serrano. “Particularly because there is a big division right now and American society is polarized.”
Faculty members such as Anne McCabe, from the English and linguistics department, have also expressed concern over the election. McCabe stated that she has been keeping up with the election through The New York Times.
“Sometimes I get dismayed, and find the whole political situation charged, volatile and polarized,” says McCabe.
McCabe further stated that “there is a lot of misinformation” regarding the media attention.
Beatriz Jordá, an adjunct professor who teaches English 1900, explains how the United States election is important for the world. The U.S. elections have always been important to Jordá since she closely watched the 2016 election.
“I was at a student dorm, and everyone stayed up to watch it,” said Jordá, a professor native to Spain.
She concluded her explanation of why this election is vital for the future of Americans and people of all nationalities.
“I think I understand the attention it’s getting,” she said. “The outcome of this election may affect not only the United States but other countries, such as Palestine.”
