Amid a furious campaign to unseat incumbent Greg Abbott as Texas governor, Beto O’Rourke stopped and spoke to assembled students and community members Thursday in the Clark Student Center. The rally drew a large crowd, with all seats filled and close to 100 people standing, and provided O’Rourke with the opportunity to energize his supporters and outline his platform. 

The room was energetic leading up to the rally, with a loud buzz of conversation and laughter that escalated as O’Rourke’s appearance drew closer. Organizers for the event signed up volunteers, passed out rally signs and sold pins and shirts to the gathered crowd. For MSU students, it provided an up-close-and-personal chance to increase their involvement in the election process. 

Cristin Martin, political science senior and president of MSU Democrats, was the student organizer for the rally. Martin said the event came together on short notice.

“It all happened really fast. We had about six days’ notice that they had a day for us to come. So we worked together, worked with MSU, worked with other students to make sure that we could make this happen,” Martin said. “This was so successful, and I couldn’t have done it without everyone who came and supported us.”

Student body president and economics senior Gabriella Pettijohn said the rally and other events like it help involve students with government and help with overall understanding of politics.

“More than anything, students have to be really involved from a young age in the civic government because it helps them become, not just better citizens, but better students as they go into their careers in the United States as a whole,” Pettijohn said. “I think just going to any rally like this helps you get a new experience on the other political platforms and understand what you want more in general. I wish that we actually had more events like this on campus.”

Martin agreed with Pettijohn, and said students should be aware of their power as a voting group.

“It’s so important that students get a first-hand access to our election system, because students and young people are the largest voting bloc in the United States. So, because of that, they need every access and every opportunity to be able to exercise that right, because they will make up the majority of the vote come November,” Martin said.

Dymon Browne and Alexia Ducreay, computer science seniors, attended the event to get a better idea of the issues at play in the statewide election. Browne said staying informed is important for students.

“We saw something was happening, so we checked it out. And then we saw that it was for the upcoming election, so we decided to partake because it’s very important for us to know what’s going on in Texas and everything,” Browne said, adding “I think it’s very important because this political process, it affects our country and our freedom.”

Ducreay echoed the sentiment, and added that the rapidly changing nature of politics makes it more important than ever to stay informed.

“It’s where we live, and we can stay knowledgeable about what’s going on in where we live, because something could happen tomorrow and we do not understand what’s happening,” Ducreay said.

Pettijohn said the main reason she came out was just to get a better understanding of O’Rourke’s policies, and the issues of the election as a whole.

“I was really interested to see how it was going to turn out and what the platform was with Beto,” Pettijohn said.

Pettijohn also said she hopes to bring more events like the O’Rourke rally to campus in the future.

“We’re always looking for bipartisan ways to bring political parties to campus, more than anything we’re just looking for ways to let students engage more in their civic government and get more involved in any way they can,” Pettijohn said.

O’Rourke stressed, both in his speech and after the event, how critical it was for students to embrace their ability to impact their government and their state by voting. He also said he does not plan to take that impact and the impact of Wichita Falls for granted.

“I am confident that young people, like those we were just visiting with at MSU here in Wichita Falls are gonna win this election,” O’Rourke said. “They want to do common-sense things that will make this a better state. They are registering to vote and they are turning out in record numbers, and I’m confident that students just like those here at MSU are going to bring it home for Texas, and make sure that we do great big things by and for one another.”

Gallery • 4 Photos

Colin Stevenson

Business management sophomore Maurqice Craig holds up a rally sign in support of Beto, Oct. 20.