UT Students, Staff Blog about RNC for Huffington Post

Edesa Scarborough’s “A View from the Minarets” includes downtown Tampa where the 2012 Republican National Convention activities are centered. She is blogging about her view for the Huffington Post and culling reflections from students, faculty and staff on what life is like here on campus during the convention buzz.

“It’s an insider’s view,” said Scarborough, director of the First Year Experience and Baccalaureate Experience. “Written tongue-in-cheek for the audience, which is 17 to 21-year-old college students, it will be driven by what we see that happens during the day and what happens at the convention at night.”

Scarborough’s first blog was posted Aug. 21 and introduced visitors to what Florida has to offer — hurricanes, palmetto bugs and heat. She also pointed out some Tampa traditions, the fact that this city is home to U.S. Central Command and that the minarets — a symbol of the city — belong to UT’s Plant Hall.

Daily posts throughout this week will be monitored and reposted on social media by Audrey Lindeman ’13 to engage students in the conversation. More than 1,500 freshmen are enrolled in the First Year Experience course that includes an RNC 101 module. This blog is one more way for the students to become involved.

“I hope students utilize this opportunity in a positive light,” said Lindeman, a criminology major who works in Scarborough’s office. “This won’t be a news story they are disconnected from. This blog connects them. Aside from voting, their voices can be heard in many other ways.”

Scarborough said she hopes the RNC is a memorable occasion for UT students for all the right reasons.

“This is a live classroom,” said Scarborough, who wants students to be exposed to and experience a national event with all the peripheral planning and functions. “I hope they feel like they are a part of it, part of this unique experience that doesn’t happen to every college freshman. They are in the midst of it.”

Follow Scarborough’s “A View from the Minarets.”