‘Feeling the Bern’ on Main Campus

WRITTEN BY: RYAN GOODWIN

As the Pennsylvania Primary nears ever closer, the presidential campaign has been very present here on campus. Weeks ago, students walking past the Bell Tower encountered young Bernie Sanders supporters, who were encouraging students to register to vote.

The unregistered vote and newly registered voter is the demographic the Vermont senator is claiming right now. Promising the installment of “free college,” Senator Sanders is appealing to the young generation who are up to their eyes in student debt.

Naturally, when this critically acclaimed hero decided to walk on Temple’s Main Campus, the turnout was outrageous.

As thousands packed Broad Street and the entrance to the Liacouras Center, students and citizens – both young and old – waited the arrival of the presidential candidate. Diamond Gem Dance Team member and freshman journalism major, Simone Stancil, described the whole experience as, “exhilarating and informative,” stressing that “everyone there was genuinely interested in what Bernie had to say, and you could feel the crowd’s support.”

On the contrary, Brian Scheiblein, a freshman communication studies major said, “it was a bunch of people idolizing a ‘dude’ like a god – like he has all the answers, but shared none of those answers at the rally.”

Scheiblein felt that phrases like “political revolution” were thrown around often at the rally, but he felt as though they had no substance behind them. As one can see, the student body is still split on this whole persona of Bernie Sanders. One thing that is clear is that those who do support him, support him 100 percent. Stancil told me she saw people waiting in line for seven hours just to get a shot at coming in the actual rally itself.

So the question still remains: does Temple, as a whole, “Feel the Bern”? Well, I guess we’ll find out come November and possibly years to follow.