Deacs & Democracy

Welcome to a special edition of our podcast, Deacs & Democracy, on the day after Election Day: November 4, 2020. Gwyneth Lonergan, a Wake Forest senior took the time to speak with me today about her involvement in this election. Over the past couple of months, she has interned for the coordinated campaign in Maine, specifically with Democrat Senate challenger Sarah Gideon, who’s is hoping to unseat long-standing moderate Republican Susan Collins. But, she has also worked with the Biden campaign there and across the country. She shares her insights with us about these two highly-contested races: what we know, what we don’t know, and where we go from here.

In the fifth installment of Deacs & Democracy, Elizabeth speaks with Anna Bloch, a sophomore at the university from New York City. She is the Old Gold & Black’s social media manager as well as a volunteer for the North Carolina Democratic Party. She specifically works with the North Carolina Coordinated Campaign, which campaigns on behalf of democrats up and down the ballot. She has primarily been phone banking and training volunteers to do the same.

In this episode of Deacs & Democracy, Elizabeth speaks with Izzy McMahon. She’s a senior at the university who has been engaging with the election in several different ways. During the summer she was a Deacs Decide fellow who helped to establish a comprehensive voter guide. This semester, she is working with MTV’s +1 the polls and worked in collaboration with the Office of Civic and Community engagement to establish the polling place at Winston-Salem First Assembly of God, which many students and community members have visited in order to cast their ballots this election. She is also interning with a political firm in D.C.

In this episode of the podcast, Elizabeth speaks with Jake Gellar-Goad, who is the Campus Organizing Director at You Can Vote, a non-profit, non-partisan voting organization. Jake is a former staff member in the scholars office, where he supported first generation and scholar students at the university. He is also  the husband of T. H. M. Gellar-Goad, a professor in the Classics department. Tune in to to listen to their lively conversation. 

In this episode of the podcast, Elizabeth speaks with Jake Gellar-Goad. He is a former staffer in the scholars office at the university, supporting first generation and scholar students. He now works for the non-profit, non-partisan voting organization You Can Vote. He is also the partner of T.H. Gellar Goad, a professor in the classics department at the university. Tune in to listen to their lively conversation. 

In the second episode of Deacs & Democracy, Elizabeth sits down with Deb Marke and Marianne Magjuka, who are co-directors of the Deacs Decide fellowship program. Listen while they discuss the details of the program, as well as the intricacies of absentee voting, barriers to voting and ways to stay engaged. 

In the first episode of the podcast, Elizabeth sits down with Mackenzie Bunner to discuss her role as a campaign fellow for Cal Cunningham's Senate campaign. 

Welcome to Deacs and Democracy, a new podcast produced by Wake Forest University’s student newspaper, the Old Gold & Black. In this limited series, Online Managing Editor Elizabeth Maline will sit down with members of the university community who are engaging with the 2020 election, whether by working for local candidates or volunteering with voting rights organizations. Stay tuned for more episodes in the coming weeks!