By Sean Doherty, student reporter
If you haven’t noticed, it’s an election year.
The 2020 election has seen a rising tide of young Americans getting involved in politics. According to the Pew Research Center, Generation Z will make up one in 10 eligible voters this November.
“I think it’s very important to understand what is going on and how governing our country works,” said Zachary Hutson, a junior political science major from Ponca City, Oklahoma.
Hutson is the founder and president of the Collegiate Independents club at Northwestern. He graduated with an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa before transferring to NWOSU this semester.
“I don’t care who you vote for, I don’t care who you like, but it’s going to be one of the biggest elections ever. The direction we go after, it’s either one way or the other, and it’s only getting worse. It starts with people like me that can say ‘Hey, guys, we’ve got to find common ground.'”
–Zach Hutson
Hutson said he hopes the club will help people find a “middle ground” in political discussions by providing a safe haven for discussion between members of the two main political parties. He also hopes the club will provide an informative segue into politics for students.
“When I say it’s a political club, that instantly turns a lot of people off because a lot of people aren’t into politics and don’t understand politics,” Hutson said. “But I think it’s very important to understand what is going on and how governing our country works. It’s important to know that stuff.”
“A lot of people will say it doesn’t affect them, but it does. Just like our stimulus checks that came in —there’s a prime example, right? And the coronavirus, there’s one, and how our government reacted to this and how we could change that going forward,” Hutson continued. “We can talk about it all day and night, but that is the club. For people who aren’t necessarily into it or don’t understand what’s going on, they can come to my club, and we kind of just sit and talk about political topics.”
The No. 1 rule of Collegiate Independents is simple: no hostility.
“I promote no hostility, no hatred towards one party or towards the other,” Hutson said. “I’m very middle ground, and I am Independent myself, so I can go both ways. I can talk with this guy on the right and that guy on the left just as easily as I can with anybody else.”
Hutson is serious about his rule.
“If there’s any name-calling, any profanity, any physicality, even if I think that you’re being petty towards one another — whether it be in the club or talking about somebody outside of the club — you’re out, you’re gone and you’re not coming back.” Hutson said. “We all know politics can get pretty heavy and can get real heated sometimes. That’s exactly what I’m trying to stop because we could have a civilized conversation about anything.”
“There’s lot of gray everywhere. The polarization of this country is becoming overwhelming,” Hutson said. “You say, ‘I’m a Democrat,’ and people will be like, ‘Oh my gosh, so you must believe in abortion, and you must believe in a huge government,’ and if you say, ‘Well, I’m a Republican,’ and people say, ‘Oh, well, you must believe in small government and you want taxes for this but not that,’ you know. And the list goes on and on.”
The club meets every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the university’s education center, Room 211. This week, Hutson invited Kelly Parker, the mayor of Alva, to speak about the importance of voting.
A main goal of Collegiate Independents is to get college students to the polls.
“I’m going to see if I can get some voter registration booths set up here on campus and get these freshmen signed up to vote,” Hutson said. “They sure vocalize their opinions, but when it comes to voting, they’re nowhere to be found.”
Looking beyond the election, Hutson hopes Collegiate Independents will remain a permanent and active club on campus.
“There’s two political clubs in effect right now, College Republicans and College Democrats, and neither of them are active,” Hutson said. “This will sound boastful, but when you have a proactive member like me, someone that can go out and get things done – I think I got something really good going here, and something that can be around for a while.”
Hutson enjoys the workload and responsibility that comes with being the founder and president of the club.
He is also involved with Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature and recently became a senator in the university’s Student Government Association.
“I love to be involved,” Hutson said. “It’s just in my nature. I do as much as I can, I stack as much on my plate as I can, because I feel like, if you’re not doing that, then what are you doing? I came to college to better myself, and this is one of the small ways that I can. College is more [than] getting good grades and getting that piece of paper. It’s building relationships, it’s building friendships, it’s building professional relationships, it’s building character, it’s building a sense of direction, and it’s building your morals. It’s changing and opening you up to a new ideology.”
In his free time, Hutson runs a film review YouTube channel and podcast called Bad Film Critic.
“I got 22 subs, but I will tell you I’ve only had it for a month, so I think I’m doing pretty good,” he said. “I’ve got 54 views on a video once, so for a month, I’m pretty proud of that. I told myself if I can get 50 subs within the year that I start, like 365 days from the day that I start, then I’m going to commit to it.”
Hudson hasn’t yet decided what he’s doing to do after graduation. He’s narrowed it down to three different routes: A) become a high school teacher and teach government while earning his master’s degree online in his free time, and then becoming a professor at a college; B) go to law school or C) become a full-time true politician running for office.
“I’ve always kind of been in the politics, but I kind of just had my opinions,” Hutson said. “I’ve got my opinions on abortion, gun control, all the big things that get people talking, and I’ve always realized that I’m pretty impartial, and I can kind of find middle ground. I can say, ‘Well, I see where you’re coming from, but I can also see where he or she’s coming from.’ I can kind of come to a very sensible approach to things, and I don’t meet a lot of people like that. So I said, ‘I have a great way to make a change,’ and running for public office – that’s why people do it.”
Right now, Hutson is focused on getting his peers involved in the electoral process and building a bridge between the political right and left.
“I don’t care who you vote for, I don’t care who you like, but it’s going to be one of the biggest elections ever,” Hutson said. “The direction we go after, it’s either one way or the other, and it’s only getting worse. It starts with people like me that can say, ‘Hey, guys, we’ve got to find common ground.’
“I think it’s super important to be in politics. … They may not like it, but I think they got to know it. I hate doing math, but I got to know a little bit.”
