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Whitmer visits CMU for campaign speech, meet and greet with students

Student body Taylor Idema hands a microphone to Governor Gretchen Whitmer at a meet and greet event on Sunday, Oct. 9, in the Bovee University Center.
Courtesy of Nathanel Pappas
/
Central Michigan Life
Student body President Taylor Idema hands a microphone to Governor Gretchen Whitmer at a meet and greet event on Sunday, Oct. 9, in the Bovee University Center.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer made a campaign stop at Central Michigan University on Sunday where she met with students, faculty and community supporters.

During her roughly ten-minute stump speech, Whitmer emphasized that issues like voting rights and LGBTQ equality are on the ballot for the November mid-term elections.

The Governor touted her record of “fixing the damn roads” and told the crowd that she will not give up fighting for women's reproductive rights, which received the loudest cheer from the crowd of roughly 400 at the Bovee University Center.

After stepping out of the photo line with the Governor, CMU sophomore Manwell Calloway says meeting the Governor in-person meant a lot to him.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer speaks at a meet and greet event on Sunday, Oct. 9, in the Bovee University Center.
Nathanael Pappas
/
Central Michigan Life
Governor Gretchen Whitmer speaks at a meet and greet event on Sunday, Oct. 9, in the Bovee University Center.

"This shows humility. It shows that she's still human and she don’t think she's above us," said Calloway. "A lot of people when they get to that status, they act like they, they’re bigger and they’re better and they don't need to do all the nitty gritty and get in with people and showing that, that they human too."

Limited publicity surrounded the event and registered attendees were asked not to share the location of the event online for security reasons. But Whitmer said the tightened security has not impacted her campaign.

"I've done four events today we roll into town, we get a chance to connect with people and then I moved to the next town. So I'm, I'm really pleased with how we've been able to make this accessible and also keep people safe. That's the most important thing," said Whitmer.

In the days leading up to the event, Central Michigan Life, the university's student newspaper, posted the event details on their website. Members of the Whitmer campaign asked the newspaper to take the event posting down. The paper was told their story put the event's continuation in jeopardy. The story was soon after taken down.

The November mid-term elections are 30 days away

Rick Brewer has been news director at WCMU since February 2024.