Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

GU Politics Funds Student Visit to Mexican Elections

Eight to 10 Georgetown students will be selected to travel to Mexico this summer to observe the country’s 2018 general election as part of a trip organized by Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service.

GU Politics, with support from the School of Foreign Service, will sponsor and fund the trip, covering the costs of housing, airfare to Mexico City from Washington, D.C., local transportation and most meals for each of the attending students.

Students are set to arrive in Mexico the week leading up to the July 1 election and head back to the United States the morning after the election.

GEORGETOWN INSTITUTE OF POLITICS AND PUBLIC SERVICE

Applicants must be available from the morning of June 24 through the evening of July 12, according to the GU Politics website.

GU Politics Chief of Staff Hanna Hope and Office Assistant Jennifer Solorio will lead the trip, titled #HoyasinMexico.

The goal of the trip is to provide students with the opportunity to observe the workings of an election firsthand, Hope said.

“We are so excited that once again we can offer Georgetown students a chance to have a behind-the-scenes look at a major political moment,” Hope wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Students will have the opportunity to interact with candidates, campaign staffers, party leaders and journalists during their visit.

“The week before any election is an exciting time,” Hope wrote. “We wanted students to have a chance to experience the final days of campaigning in the run-up to the July 1st vote.”

Mexico’s general election includes a presidential election for a six-year term and elections of 500 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 128 members of the Senate. It is set to be one of the largest elections in Mexican history with 18,000 seats open overall at local, state and federal levels. The incumbent president, Enrique Peña Nieto, is not eligible for re-election.

The leading presidential candidate, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, is the left-leaning former mayor of Mexico City. Lopez Obrador promises to combat inequality and corruption, and leads his nearest opponent, Ricardo Anaya Cortés, a former leader in the Chamber of Deputies running with the support of a coalition of conservative and center-left groups.

An important aspect of the trip is the participation of students in sharing their experiences to social media, according to Hope. Students will use GU Politics social media accounts, as well as their own, to produce and share articles and videos for platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

GU Politics has held similar trips to observe party conventions and elections for students in the past.

GU Politics sponsored students to attend both the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention in summer 2016, and brought groups to observe both a Georgia special election and the snap general election in the United Kingdom last year.

Any student with an interest in learning more about a moment in Mexican politics and travelling with their peers is encouraged to apply, according to Hope. Any student who is currently enrolled at Georgetown and plans on enrolling at the university in the fall is eligible .

“I hope that our #HoyasInMexico will develop an understanding of Mexican politics, create once in a lifetime memories, and develop wonderful relationships with their fellow Hoyas,” Hope wrote.

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