Students from all over the state gathered in Pugh Hall this past weekend for the Future of Florida Summit.
About 100 students learned how to run an effective political campaign, but the conference was focused specifically on the Online Voter Registration bill, which will be voted on in the upcoming Florida legislative session, which starts March 8.
The conference kicked off Friday with a welcome from UF Provost Joe Glover. Then, students launched into a whirlwind of activity until Sunday afternoon.
Stephen Paolini, an 18-year-old UF sustainability freshman, said he enjoyed what the conference had to offer.
“I think the diversity and quality of the speakers is really top-notch,” Paolini said.
Students heard from speakers from various parts of the legislative process, including Florida Sen. Jeff Clemens and Deirdre Macnab, president of the League of Women Voters.
“I try to speak to students as much as possible because I think they’re the future of the state and the future of the country,” said Macnab, in her third term as president. “This was a meeting of change-makers.”
In addition to speakers, students participated in a case-study competition and attended workshops on topics such as online advocacy and political grassroots movements.
Frances Chapman, one of the conference student organizers and a UF political science junior, said she hopes to see a topic more controversial than online voter registration at next year’s conference.
She said that while the conference is only in its second year, she has high hopes for the future.
“Our name recognition is only going to go up,” Chapman, 20, said. “I think it’s just indicative of the wonderful things that could come out of our university.”
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 2/23/2015 under the headline “Conference focuses on Florida online voter registration bill"]
