ALICE JOHNSON ’23 KNOWS young adults are the key to any election victory.
By Libby Cudmore
“Young people are a group that doesn’t always get tapped into the conversation, but we have the numbers to swing every election. We are the ones living through choices that generations before us have made and now it’s our turn to shape what the next 20 years will look like.”
Alice Johnson ’23
Political Science Graduate
For Johnson, that responsibility took root early. The daughter of Hartwick alumni Cheryl and Jason Johnson ’90, she got her start in politics on the Hill.
“I took courses in how the media covers politics, and the politics of race and ethnicity, and they were eye-opening,” she said.
Those courses deepened Johnson’s understanding of political structures and fueled her desire to get directly involved. During the 2020 campaign season, she supported races on Long Island as an intern.
“I had a lot of energy and ideas, and I knew there were always campaigns that needed interns,” she said. “I jumped right on it!”
Johnson worked on several campaigns, including the recent congressional campaign for New York Representative Josh Riley (D-19). As a youth organizer, she managed a team of full-time organizers, as well as part-time campus organizers. She was even profiled in Teen Vogue in March 2023 as an up-and-coming political operative.
After gaining hands-on experience in political campaigns, Johnson was eager to channel that momentum into inspiring fellow Hartwick students.
Last September, she returned to her alma mater with a mission: to engage students in the democratic process just as she had.
“I reached out to (Institute of Public Service) Professors Laurel Elder, Matthew Chick and Zachary McKinney because I needed a favor,” she said. “I wanted to bring a candidate to campus to do a forum and they wasted no time helping me set it up.”
The forum gave students the chance to ask the candidate questions and hear about his plans for NY-19. Johnson also arranged for several Hartwick alumni to work the event, including Jessica Flatley ’23, Cierra Barkley ’24, Ethan Lee ’23, Julia Morgan (nee Kane) ’23 and Olivia Egbert ’23.
Best of all, Johnson said, the event ensured that every attendee — students and community members alike — had the opportunity to register to vote on the spot.
Hartwick wasn’t the only campus she visited, and on November 5, 2024, all her hard work paid off when Riley won his race.
“We increased voter turnout on all of our campuses,” she said. “It really proves that young people can make the change they want to see.”
Seeing her efforts impact voter turnout reaffirmed Johnson’s commitment to political engagement. Now working on her master’s degree in political management at George Washington University, she’s already looking ahead to the 2026 midterms. And, she encourages people to engage in civic responsibility whenever possible.
“Getting in on campaigns, whether they’re local, statewide or national, is always fun,” she said.
Today, as we reflect on our enduring commitment to civic engagement, we celebrate the many ways Hartwick fosters active citizenship and strengthens communities—locally, nationally and globally.
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