Students gathered on March 9 for the Contacting Your Representatives event hosted by NMU’s Student Leader Fellowship program. During this event, students were given the opportunity to learn about how to find their representative, ways to contact them and how to format a letter.
The presenter at the event, NMU advisor Susan Robison, emphasized the importance of contacting representatives.
“Calling your representative isn’t about overnight change,” Robison said. “It’s about showing public support or pressure, building momentum, and reminding them that constituents are watching.”
Robison also highlighted that whether your political beliefs align with those of your representatives, it is important to contact them either way.
“Representatives don’t often expect to hear from people with differing opinions or views from them, which makes it easy for them to write you off and focus on people they do hear from, which is why they should hear from you,” Robison said. “If you show up respectfully, consistently and loudly, you remind them that they work for you, not just their donors.”
Students agreed that it is important for anyone to attend events like Contacting Your Representatives.
At the end of the event, students were given resources to help them find their specific representative. SLFP also provided post cards and pens. On the projector was a list of topic ideas they could write about, and a formula they could use to write their postcard.
