By J.D. Rottweiler, Ph.D.
Three nervous Cochise College students rose well before dawn Feb. 12 and embarked on an eye-opening trip to meet their makers.
No students were harmed on this excursion. Quite the opposite.
Katherine DeLong, Tamara King and Larry White joined me in Phoenix and spent a day shadowing their Arizona LAWmakers as part of an effort to educate all senators and representatives about the impact community colleges have on their communities. The students witnessed the “controlled chaos” that goes on every working day at the state legislature, were introduced from the House and Senate galleries, and left wanting more.
DeLong graduated from Benson High School and lives in the residence halls at the Douglas Campus. She currently has her sights set on zoology. A quiet student, she joined the Student Government Association this semester and credits it with helping her grow her circle of friends and contacts.
DeLong shadowed Rep. Gail Griffin, meeting with her privately before attending a majority caucus meeting, a rural caucus meeting, and observing activity on the House floor. Her takeaway? The whole process was eye-opening, and it would be beneficial to spend more time absorbing it all.
King is an honors student from Tombstone. A general studies major eyeing a career in social services, she is also pursuing a medical assistant certificate. She was inspired by Majority Whip Rep. Becky Nutt. King remembered seeing Nutt’s campaign signs. She was impressed with how much the majority whip needs to know not only about potential bills, but about who stands where on which issues, as well as with the manner in which she must work to keep meetings and processes moving forward.
White is a Sierra Vista Student Government member with a variety of interests. He’s majoring in exercise science at Cochise but anticipates pursuing advanced studies in aerospace engineering and architecture. He spent his day with Sen. David Gowan, visiting the majority caucus in the Senate and the rural caucus, learning along the way that legislators are real people who deal with real issues.
Two of the students later joined me at a visit with Senate majority leader Rick Gray, and later we took a brief tour of the Arizona Capitol Museum.
Just like most people, legislators have passions that drive them to make a difference. By watching them work and learning about their passions for rural communities, the visit humanized the process and the people involved in it. We were able to observe that our senators and representatives enjoy hearing from the people they serve, largely agree on many issues, and engage in practical practices to identify top issues and reach consensus.
Our students talked through dinner about their impressions of the legislature and are likely to report on their experiences at an upcoming board meeting. I thank Rep. Griffin, Rep. Nutt, and Sen. Gowan for the time they spent exposing Cochise students to Arizona’s democracy and hope our local citizens, too, will take the opportunity to see how ideas about issues turn into laws.
J.D. ROTTWEILER, Ph.D., is president of Cochise College. Contact him at jdr@cochise.edu.