The event included presentations by Bird, Obama for America New Hampshire Organizer Rob Avruch '11, New Hampshire Field Director Sara Duncan and Obama campaign legal advisor Paul Twomey, in addition to breakout sessions in which Dartmouth students led discussions about how to increase voter registration and student participation on high school and college campuses across New Hampshire.
Students from seven New Hampshire schools, including Dartmouth, the University of New Hampshire, Colby-Sawyer College, Franklin Pierce College, Southern New Hampshire State University, New Hampshire Technical Institute and Saint Anselm College, attended the summit, which served as the New Hampshire "kickoff" for the Greater Together youth organizing campaign, Bird said.
During the summit, Bird said Obama's strategy of engaging young voters would likely be attacked again during this election year.
"The same cynicism that we met everywhere along the way when I was on the campaign trail in 2008, you will encounter this entire year," he said. "People say 2008 was an anomaly, young people won't turn out again. That's exactly why you're here."
Government professor Linda Fowler said the Obama campaign will have to work to maintain the college vote in order to win the November election.
"The overwhelming support among young voters for Democrats in 2008 has eroded, so they can't assume that, a) young voters will show up, and b) if they do show up, they will vote in overwhelming numbers for Democrats," Fowler said.
Current legislation in the New Hampshire state legislature threatens young voters, particularly students, Twomey said. Twomey discussed pending bills that could allow people to intimidate young voters by challenging their right to vote without reason.
"If you take anything away from this, register now and get all of your friends to register," he said. "Talk to students, get involved in fighting some of these bills and get registered."
The New Hampshire House passed a bill on Feb. 7 that would essentially prevent out-of-state students from voting in New Hampshire without maintaining legal residence in the state. The bill, which threatens student voting, will now go to the Senate.
Bird said such challenges make student organization all the more important.
"They will try to put laws in your way to try to keep you from voting," he said. "They will continue to tell you that you don't matter."
Before the presentation, Fowler said it would be crucial for the Obama campaign to focus on the threat to student voting.
"This isn't just about Obama," she said. "It's about asserting your prerogatives as citizens because someone wants to take them away from you."
A recently formed non-partisan student organization, Dartmouth Votes 2012, created a video encouraging students to vote, which was screened by the event organizers as an example of organizing and motivating students.
In five small breakout groups, each led by one or two Dartmouth students, participants discussed challenges of recruiting student volunteers and hosting events to attract new members.
Students from UNH, USNH and NHTI said they had issues securing funding from their schools for College Democrats clubs, and all groups agreed that collaborating with non-partisan organizations was a good way to encourage more students to volunteer. Groups also shared ideas about voter registration and agreed that setting up tables in highly trafficked areas on campus during peak hours was the best way. The UNH delegation said it was able to register 400 students in one day by putting a table in the center of campus.
Sam Lewis '13, president of the College Democrats and moderator of one of the groups, said he appreciated the chance to share ideas with students from across the state.
"Getting to talk to students from different schools allows us to help each other and to get a bigger perspective on the entire state," Lewis said. "People in these groups are going to be leaders, and it was great to get together and discuss our goals."
The best way to organize is to use a team model, Duncan said.
"Every team needs a team leader and a team member," she said. "That's why you're all here today."
Avruch said he hoped students would leave the summit motivated to start organizing on their campuses immediately, with a "tool kit" of strategies to take back to their campuses and connected to a network of individuals who share the common goal of re-electing Obama.
Lewis said the event is the start of many events the College Democrats will host leading up to the general election.
"This is not only the kickoff in campaign," Lewis said. "We're getting people energized. We're going to be hosting a lot of fun events."
The College Democrats learned the Obama campaign would come to campus three weeks ago and have been helping to plan the event since then.
"I and other members were heavily involved in choosing the space, deciding what would be on the agenda and getting students to volunteer," he said.
At the end of the summit, attendees signed pledge cards that said they committed to being a leader or team member at their university, doing five hours of voter registration and presenting to five organizations in the next two months.
