This letter was submitted by Penn State Alumni Ted Nickles.

As a Penn State undergraduate in 1968 I was looking forward to the opportunity to cast my first vote in a presidential election. While the jobs market for graduates was sound, the times were tumultuous. There were protests and riots as the country dealt with racial unrest, the beginnings of the women’s rights movement, the burgeoning youth counterculture, various other civil rights issues, and the assassinations of major national figures – all happening while the nation was consumed and harshly divided by the war in Vietnam. Many of us at Penn State became active in opposing the war by protesting in numerous cities, writing to news outlets and politicians, and by reading aloud at the foot of Pattee Mall and College Avenue the names of the young Americans who died in Vietnam. Because of the huge numbers of war casualties that effort alone took several days. Some were our friends and classmates.

The election posed a conundrum. Lyndon Johnson had declined to run for another term as president. The major party choices were Democratic Vice President Hubert Humphrey, aligned with Johnson’s administration which sent half a million of America’s youth to war and Republican Richard Nixon who was for many an unacceptable candidate. Not fully appreciating his extraordinary efforts furthering civil rights but upset by his prosecution of the war I could not vote for anyone connected to Johnson. Likewise I could not vote for Richard Nixon in any case for any reason.

As the location of the University was not proximate to a major metropolitan area, the University provided many significant outside speakers and performers for the community. One of the many speakers brought onto campus that year was noted comedian, writer, and anti-war activist Dick Gregory. Gregory actually became a write-in presidential candidate that year under the inconsequential Freedom and Peace Party, though he had no chance of winning. He was a compelling speaker and during his presentation at Penn State that night Gregory’s wisdom, truth, and passion in opposing the Vietnam war brought me to tears. Of the 47,097 altruistic but naïve votes that he received nationally in the general election one was mine.

It was the last time I threw away my vote.

For the good of the country in every election since I have voted for the best available candidate. There is a choice this November. To the students of Penn State, you are privileged. You are privileged to attend a highly regarded seat of learning. But you are even more privileged to live in a democratic country that permits you to freely choose your leaders by your vote. Many before you have worked hard for this opportunity and many have died protecting your right to vote in a free society. There are many crucial issues at stake in this year’s election. Among some are: global warming; the right for women to control their own healthcare; the continuance of the Affordable Care act; the fair apportionment of corporate and personal taxes; the continuance of Medicare and Medicaid; the treatment of the DACA youth, many of whom are your age; and international relations with our allies and adversaries.

Please do not throw away your vote and please do not throw away your right to vote. As Benjamin Franklin said in 1787 in response to a question what we have got, a republic or a monarchy, “A republic if you can keep it”.

Ted Nickles
Arts and Architecture ‘69

To find your polling place in Pennsylvania, as well as check your voter registration status, please visit https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx.