Over the past few weeks, HU students may have begun to notice a number of bright yellow and black signs peppering the lawns of Hampton residents. Reminiscent of oversized bumble bees, the vivid signs bear the name of the current District 2 Virginia State Senator. There has been a great deal of buzz around this candidate’s election among Hampton Roads residents, but what many students may not know is that this candidate walks among us each day. Mamie Locke, Ph.D., is the Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Education, as well as a Virginia State Senator.
Born and raised in Jackson, Miss., Dr. Locke first realized that she wanted to make a difference while earning her B.A. at Tougaloo College, where professors would take students along with them on protests to get them involved. While in graduate school, Dr. Locke continued her move into politics by working on political campaigns. She moved to Hampton to begin teaching in 1981, began to get involved in city council meetings, and secured her first political office in 1996 when she was elected to the Hampton City Council. In 2000, Dr. Locke was elected mayor of Hampton, where she served until 2004 when she became a state senator.
The current election has presented a new set of challenges for the incumbent candidate. “Last election, I didn’t have any opposition,” she says. ‘This year I do and it makes a difference when you have an opponent. It means you have to spend even more time raising money and putting together an election. We basically had to start from scratch.” However, she welcomes the challenges, as they keep her on her toes. “It’s been good in a way because it keeps me honed in on what the real needs of the community are. Sometimes you take for granted what the community needs are but in a bona fide election campaign you get to be out there knocking on doors.”
Her opponent, Tom Harmon, holds a number of ideologies that are practically the antithesis of those of Dr. Locke’s. As a tea party Republican, he may be viewed as a beacon of hope for fellow Virginia tea partiers fed up with the Obama administration and local liberal policies.
Regarding the tea party movement, Dr. Locke says, “It’s out of touch with the reality of what really impacts people’s lives.” Due to redistricting, Dr. Locke’s area has also become more Republican and less Democratic, another challenge she cites as part of the reason she has campaigned so hard in this election.
Nevertheless, Dr. Locke shows no signs of backing down. “I think I have a good chance of winning. I certainly don’t take it for granted,” she says.
Dr. Locke’s top priorities are education, transportation, and unemployment; the latter of which she believes are connected. Another important issue close to Dr. Locke’s heart is Virginia’s drug court system. She knows firsthand the importance of the drug courts, as her own sister has a substance abuse problem.
Although the majority of Hampton University students hail from other states, Dr. Locke encourages students to still exercise their right to vote and become involved in this election as well as the upcoming presidential election.
“I think there has been an overall apathy among the entire population since after the Obama election,” she says. “I liked that it energized a lot of people who never voted before. Then after he was in office for a year it kind of went away, but the issues are still there. Whatever you felt in terms of being energized in that election, you need to reach down. We have a national government that’s pretty much dysfunctional.”
As for students hoping to enter the world of politics, Dr. Locke shares this advice: “Begin by being good community servants, giving community service, becoming involved in organizations in the community. You don’t know whose watching. Also keep your nose clean, once you put yourself out there for office you’re living in a glass house and any and everything becomes fodder for the media.”
As a mayor, dean, senator, and caretaker of her sister’s children, Dr. Locke has and will continue to serve her community beyond this November 8 election. Now as you pass lawns lined with those yellow and black signs, just remember that you can say the name emblazed across it is a part of your campus community.
*This article was published in Hampton University's student newspaper, The Hampton Script.
No comments:
Post a Comment