This year, sophomore Carson Bolding registered approximately 75 voters, has promoted civic engagement and affected change, all between being a full time student and being a public relations officer for the Trinity Progressives (T-Prog).
She is currently pursuing a communication and economics double-major and a potential minor in education, and would like to eventually work on education policy in the future.
“I got really involved in politics right after the 2016 election. I missed being able to vote in that election by two days … so I got really involved after because I realized I felt helpless and wanted to be able to do something that was effective and could actually create change,” Bolding said. “So my senior year in high school, I got really involved and started a group of high-schoolers to encourage people to get involved in local politics. We volunteered in campaigns and things like that.”
She has also worked on campaign races here in San Antonio in addition to her efforts on campus.
“I worked on the Gina Ortiz campaign, who is the Democrat running in the swing district in San Antonio,” Bolding said. “And over the summer I worked with “Battleground Texas,” which is an organization that registers voters across the state, with the idea that the more voters you register in Texas, the bluer it is going to get and [eventually] become a battleground state.”
According to Bolding, last year she and other T-Prog officers became deputized in Bexar County to register people to vote both off and on campus.
“Today’s Stats — doors knocked: 119, steps taken: 25,688, old people who told me they were proud of me: 3,” Bolding tweeted on Nov. 4.
Austin Dolan, junior and T-Prog treasurer, described what it’s like to work with Bolding.
“I view her as, like, the positive team mom. She probably gets tired too, but she never shows it as far as I’ve seen. She always has so much energy, so much motivation, and she just makes everyone want to do more,” Dolan said.
According to Dolan, Carson always offers words of encouragement to the team, pushing past fatigue to get things done and help more.
On campus, the T-Prog team worked hard this past election season to ensure Trinity students were registered to vote. T-Prog, MOVE and the Student Government Association registered 206 voters on campus on National Voter Registration Day and 72 registrations on the day of the voter registration deadline itself, according to Bolding.
Regardless of the results of the midterm election, Bolding claimed there has been a lot of progress politically and sees the large voter turnout for youth as a good indicator for the future.
Professors also bear witness to students getting involved politically and engaging with the community. Bolding is, however, a student who not only is active but also affects students around her.
“I first met Carson when she was in my Mass Media class, and from the beginning of class, she always was really insightful about everything and was paying attention to what was going on in the world,” said Jennifer Henderson, professor and chair of the Department of Communication. “It’s been great to see her engaged in activism on campus, especially in getting people to vote and registered to vote.”
According to Henderson, students in the past few years have become more aware and engaged in what’s happening in the world, and she sees Bolding as one who has taken initiative and led this effect.
“Her enthusiasm and civic engagement, engagement around social and political issues, really have made people excited to [do the same]. It’s just her energy that really makes me proud of her,” Henderson said.
According to Aaron Delwiche, professor of communication, Bolding is very creative, engaged and optimistic. He also enjoys her tweets.
“As anyone who follows her on Twitter can attest, she is also very funny. In fact, I think I already know which presidential candidate I’ll be backing 18 years from now. Vote Bolding in ’36,” Delwiche said.
