FOUNTAIN HILL, Pa. – Students at Pennsylvania’s leading universities in the commonwealth’s “battleground” states were bullish about Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances of winning in November, but noted the race remains close. I admitted it.
Fox News Digital is a prominent private university in Bethlehem with notable alumni including Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca, businessman and NASCAR team owner Roger Penske, and President Trump aide Alina Haba. Visited Lehigh University.
The Philadelphia Eagles used to hold training camp at Lehigh’s Murray Goodman Athletic Campus on the other side of South Mountain.
On Packer Avenue in the middle of the main campus, Jack Ciavolella of the Lehigh University Democratic Party was seated at the Democratic Party table Tuesday with other students and volunteers from the Harris-Waltz campaign.
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Democratic students display campaign signs at Lehigh University in Southside Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (Fox News Digital/Charles Creitz)
A colorful totem pole of campaign signs stood waving in the wind next to Sen. Harris Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr.’s (Pennsylvania) table. Eugene DePasquale, candidate for attorney general. State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta (D-North Philadelphia) is a candidate for Auditor General.
“Northampton County is a battleground county in a battleground state, probably one of the most important in the commonwealth, so we had to do our part,” Ciavolella said.
“So that’s what I’m here for.”
He added that as Election Day approaches, there is more and more talk of campaigning on campus among students who support Trump, independents or those who align with Mr. Ciavorella’s group.
Fox News Digital reached out to the College Republicans via email posted on the campus website, but did not receive a response.
“More and more people are becoming interested in how the election is going and how close it is,” Ciavolella said. “So people start getting more interested in things like this.”
He said students this semester are more politically active than in recent years.
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Asa Packer Memorial Chapel is located in the heart of Lehigh University’s main campus. (Fox News Digital/Charles Crates)
As Fox News Digital spoke with other students walking down the mountain-side campus from Thayer Park, no one who stopped recognized them as Trump supporters.
Ciavolella said his group’s presence has become more visible as the voter registration deadline approaches.
On a front lawn near a campus coffee shop, volunteers from a nonpartisan voter registration group were trying to do just that.
Lehigh is no different from other schools in Pennsylvania, such as Penn State, where students often register to vote on campus rather than in their hometowns out of state. This dynamic made Center County, home to State College, a hotly contested district in national elections.
Meanwhile, Eric Cepeda, a New York native who is registering to vote on Lehigh’s campus, said equity and community issues are most important to him this term.
Tuition is also a concern these days, he said, adding that Lehigh serves students in need and Harris is a better candidate for affordable college tuition.
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The blast furnace and chimney of the former Bethlehem Steel stands quietly along the Lehigh River south of Christmas City. The area currently includes entertainment venues, a museum, a PBS affiliate, and a casino. (Charles Crates)
Ethan, a student from New Jersey, said abortion and student loans will be big issues in this election.
“Morally, it’s how you deal with people being in charge of the country and being in charge of the people,” he said.
“I’ve seen people from both sides.”
He added that political advertising has also been very prominent in the region recently, and that Pennsylvania’s status as a “battleground state” is a factor in the increase.
“Personally, I like to do my own research and don’t like to be influenced by other people’s opinions,” he added.
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Looking down on the rest of Bethlehem, the roof of the historic Hotel B juts out next to the busy Hill-to-Hill Bridge and Bethlehem Steel’s rusting, long-silent blast furnace. were lined up near the banks of the Lehigh River. Down below.
But noticeably missing from the city’s skyline is Martin Tower, the blue-and-silver cross-shaped skyscraper north of Center City that once housed Bethlehem Steel’s headquarters. The site was also home to the Durkee Spice Factory, but much of the Lehigh Valley is being redeveloped.
Mina Handelsman of California and Sophia Ross of Washington, D.C., were waiting at the end of campus closest to the steel stacks for the campus shuttle that would take them to Lehigh’s nearby Mountaintop and Goodman campuses.
Both political science majors said abortion rights are a big issue for them, adding that several important themes come to mind.
A digital billboard on Interstate 78 near Lehigh University’s Goodman campus in Hellertown, Pennsylvania, carries Democratic Party ads. (Fox News Digital/Charlie Crates)
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“We are also thinking about planning for both national debt and student college debt.” [are important]” Handelsman said.
“Student loan programs: I agree,” Ross added. “There are some things that I think are really important, and there are also some economic issues. And I think some of the immigration policies are very interesting.”
Both students said they were enrolled in a class that deals with elections and politics.
”[W]I don’t hear much about discord or disagreement. [on campus]” Ross said, adding that it’s important to register to vote anyway.
Handelsman said he expects Harris to win in Pennsylvania, but will struggle more in other battleground states.
“In Pennsylvania, young people are really mobilizing to get out the vote. And as a young generation, which is a lot of us, I think our issues are better represented by Kamala Harris.”
“I think it’s Kamala Harris, but I don’t really know,” Ross added.
There are several other schools in the Lehigh Valley, including DeSales College in Center Valley, Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Lafayette College in Easton, and Moravian College in Bethlehem, where the student vote is large in the battleground. It occupies a large proportion.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduate of Temple University with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
