The School of Dramatic Arts’ Institute for Theatre & Social Change hosted “Your Vote, Your Voice!” Saturday at Bing Theatre. Students participated in a nonpartisan panel discussion about the importance of youth voter engagement.

The event was a collaboration with the Center for Inclusive Democracy, the Political Student Assembly and The Hometown Project, a nonprofit organization that uses public figures to work as “energizers” in their hometowns. Featured panelists included Phillipa Soo from “Hamilton,” Jerry Minor from “Abbott Elementary” and Steven Pasquale from “Rescue Me.” 

The ITSC works to empower students to discover their creative voices in the dramatic arts, fine arts and media in order to utilize these mediums for social change. It hosts a variety of events concerning upcoming elections and voting every four years.

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“The arts [are] not something that [exist] outside of the civic realm, but… part of the civic realm and part of a dialogue with that,” said Laura Flanagan, the organizer and moderator for the event and a faculty member of ITSC. 

Flanagan said her hope was to collaborate with organizations that shared a common goal in inspiring students to vote and show them that they could have an impact.

“I hope that [students] feel excited to vote,” Flanagan said. “I hope that they feel energized to use their voices in a civic arena, and that politics [aren’t] just this yucky thing that gets weird scrolls on the internet, but [are] something that they can actively engage with as part of living in a democratic republic, and that they feel less isolated and confused about the process.” 

During the panel, the speakers shared personal stories of how their experiences and environments shaped their political engagement, the possibility of merging different interests in theater and community engagement, and the power of storytelling in encouraging the people around us to vote.

Soo talked about how she became more politically aware when she was a college student in New York. It allowed her to meet people from different backgrounds and perspectives, which led her to think about how other people live.

“Being in New York, experiencing different people, different cultures, and once I graduated doing a show like ‘Hamilton,’ I was thrust into the world and needing to be cognizant of who I am as a citizen in this world, as well as who I am as an artist,” she said. 

The speakers encouraged students to become their own kind of “Hometown Energizers” by informing their friends and family members about where and how to register to vote. 

“Democracy is only activated by us. It only works if we all participate,” Soo said.

Organizers provided students with a QR code at the end of the event to check their voter registration status and receive election information. 

Zaria Franklin, a junior majoring in theater with an emphasis in acting, said the panel was very informative. 

“I didn’t know Ballotpedia was a thing, so I’ll definitely be using that, because I often struggle to find [ballot] information and understand it,” Franklin said. Ballotpedia is a digital encyclopedia that provides Americans with up-to-date, unbiased information on current government officials, public policy issues, upcoming elections, and candidates.

Michaela Warren, a junior majoring in theater with an emphasis in acting, said the panel made her feel more inclined to use her voice to promote voter engagement in her communities.  

“They really encouraged me to talk to everyone around me, no matter how nervous and contentious the conversation may seem these days, just bringing up the fact that we should all be exercising the right to vote, whether or not we’re voting for the same people,” Warren said. 

Biliena Zekarias, a junior majoring in theater with an emphasis in acting, said she felt a newfound sense of responsibility to engage in upcoming elections.

 “It’s our duty as artists and storytellers to do our part in the world and be advocates for people that don’t have a voice,” Zekarias said.