Young Voters Club

In its third year, the student organization continues to grow as an inclusive space for political dialogue and debate. 

The Young Voters Club wants to be the place where all Upper School students can be heard. 

Now in its third year, the organization is looking to broaden its focus from elections and voter turnout to discussions on current events and political engagement. 

Club leaders Ansh Kapoor ’27, Eli Browne ’27 and Clara Buller ’27 joined the organization during its introductory year and were excited to take the reins of planning discussions, activities and a very special assembly that included a visit from Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings.

All three Upper School students joined the club initially because of their interest in politics and their desire to support their fellow students (Buller’s sister, Josie ’25, is the founder of the club). This year, they hoped to see the Young Voters Club continue to grow by attracting members who may not initially think this organization is for them.   

“Our biggest goal this year was to expand our reach,” Kapoor says. “We wanted to make our dialogues more accessible, less research-based and more opinion-based, so we’d get as many people involved as possible and get as many people to talk as possible.” 

They began reaching out to fellow students who had overlapping interests like history, debate and STEM. The club’s meeting location also moved to a more accessible time slot and area, following lunch. The hope was to show the organization’s inclusive and welcoming attitude to anyone, no matter their political leanings or primary interests. 

With a few months until the midterm elections and another general election not until 2028, Kapoor, Browne and Buller wanted to focus more discussions around current events and different components of the U.S. federal and state governments. Being able to discuss how every level of the government impacts the daily lives of Americans was important to incorporate.

“Our biggest goal this year was to expand our reach.”

Last spring, as Kapoor, Browne and Buller were planning their yearly assembly, they wanted to bring in a guest who was an impactful political figure and someone who worked at the intersection of many different areas within politics to show how the government’s work applies to everyone. This is what spurred the interest in bringing Attorney General Jennings to school. During her visit in October, Jennings shared her office’s role in elections and beyond with powerful stories from her career, highlighting her work in criminal justice, public safety, consumer protection and defending the rule of law.

She also discussed how Attorneys General from across the country collaborate to protect public rights on a national scale.

The conversation brought thoughtful questions from students on topics like political bias, women in leadership and criminal justice reform.

Kapoor said Jennings’ visit also inspired faculty members to incorporate topics of law and ethics into their lesson plans. The three students were excited to see how interested the Upper School community was in their assembly. 

As the midterm elections approach, the organization will also begin hosting events and activities including learning how to create campaign materials, encouraging voter registration and turnout, and potentially even bringing a voting booth into the schoolhouse for a second time. 

For Andrew Brown, PhD, Upper School history faculty member and Young Voters Club advisor, what he has seen the students achieve—and how they hold civil debates—is something everyone can learn from. 

“From my vantage point, it’s been fascinating to go to these dialogues because I’m the only adult in the room, and that was kind of an intentional decision so it could be a safe space for students to be able to talk about lots of different political ideas,” Brown says. “What I have loved seeing the last few years is that these were conversations that students were already having outside of any organized activity, now this club has kind of given them an organized space to be able to process through all this. And it’s been great going into the dialogues and seeing people kind of get what they need out of it, because for some, they have views and they want to be able to share them. And then others are like, ‘I don’t actually know a lot about this.’ And they actually just come to listen and learn about it. So, it has been a place for all different types of political engagement.”

Looking ahead, the Young Voters Club will continue to be a safe, inclusive space for varying political opinions. They hope to continue to attract students to come to a meeting and see if it’s a space for them.