Actress Kerry Washington graced the Atlanta University Center in a surprise visit to Morehouse College’s campus on Oct. 22. The Morehouse College Democrats coordinated the visit.
The Primetime Emmy Award winner and star actress from the hit series “Scandal” stood in front of a capacity-filled Q&A audience in Wheeler Hall 214F to encourage students from Morehouse, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University to make plans to vote during this year’s midterm election cycle.
Washington emphasized that students need to go beyond their comfort zones in order to turn out for this year’s election cycle. For her, she said, sacrificing time spent on her career and family is worth it in order to preserve democracy in this moment.
“It’s not going to matter what TV show I am on if I can’t walk down the street without papers,” she said. “It’s about walking away from my child who is crying because I’m not going to be home because I’m coming to Georgia and Wisconsin and Michigan because I understand that I can have a bigger impact here than I’m going to have in my comfortable home in California.”
Senior theatre major Dorian Miller ‘27 left the event with a firm understanding of how powerful his vote can be. He says no matter the result of any of the races this year, he will still have that same mindset in the next election cycle.
“No matter the results, win or lose, still vote because our voice matters,” he said. “It’s okay to lose sometimes, but we will win at some point.”
Morehouse College Democrats President Jaylon Coleman says organizing this event did not come without administrative pushback from the college. Coleman says the day after the Morehouse Democrats started putting the event together, the college had implemented a nonpartisan policy for political events.
The policy comes from a statement sent out to Morehouse staff by the Office of General Counsel & Compliance. Because of the college’s 501(c)3 status, partisan action taken on behalf of political candidates without neutral access is prohibited.
Washington had announced her endorsement of Democratic candidates Keisha Lance Bottoms and Jon Ossoff for the gubernatorial and Senate races respectively on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22.
“I think we can be nonpartisan, but being apolitical in this moment is super dangerous,” Coleman said. “There are ways that the school could help us address these issues like events inviting multiple candidates when you have forums. But we haven’t seen the administration actually do anything to help us besides say no.”
Shannon Mayembe, the moderator of the event, says beyond her love for Washington as a television and movie star, engaging in conversation with her about the urgency of this year’s political climate gave her and the students another reason to appreciate her.
“To hear someone who doesn’t do this as their profession still have so much love and passion for it, I think that really resonated with the students,” Mayembe said. “She cares about what’s going on in Georgia politics because it does affect everybody, including her.”
In response to a question about regaining hope after the 2024 presidential election results, Washington says that just like with dating, you shouldn’t give up on what you want after the first heartbreak.
“You may not fall in love with every candidate,” she said. “But you don’t have to be in love with the candidate. You have to love yourself enough to know that your vote matters and that even if somebody doesn’t seem perfect, they’re making better decisions for you and your community than what’s on the other side.”
