Important Voting Message from President Dawkins

Exercise your Right to Vote!

Dear Belles, just three days after he stopped by Bennett College to encourage you to vote, Congressman John Lewis (D-Georgia) tweeted the following: “I have been beaten, my skull fractured, and arrested more than forty times so that each and every person has the right to register and vote. Friends of mine gave their lives. Do your part. Get out there and vote like you’ve never voted before.”

I would be remiss if I did not echo Congressman Lewis’ sentiment. Belles, if you have not already voted, please ensure that you get to the polls tomorrow to exercise your Constitutional right to vote. This year’s midterm elections are pivotal. The United States faces many challenges both domestically and abroad. Moreover, many rights that we take for granted – including the right to vote, for instance – are being threatened. We need the right people in office to move the country forward in a positive manner. We at Bennett College cannot change our nation or the world by ourselves, but we can do our part by casting our ballot tomorrow on Election Day. You, Bennett Belles, can do YOUR PART by voting!

While you are certainly free to vote when you choose – polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. – I encourage you to join your Bennett sisters at 11 a.m. in front of the Student Union as they prepare to march to the polls. Although I have already voted, I and other Bennett administrators will march to the polls with you. Even if you have already voted, I am counting on a large number of Belles to march to the polls tomorrow as we demonstrate a phrase coined years ago by North Carolina Congresswoman Dr. Alma S. Adams: Bennett Belles are Voting Belles!

Please vote tomorrow – or march with your sisters in solidarity if you have already voted. Please make your voice heard. Please ensure that the efforts of Congressman Lewis and others who marched and fought were not in vain.

Thank you,

Phyllis Worthy Dawkins, Ph.D.
President