Student Scotlight - Sally Hayes '10

Monmouth College sophomore Sally Hayes (right, in red) joined Barack Obama and several of his supporters at a rally in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, on Dec. 28.

In an "Introduction to Liberal Arts" class at Monmouth College in 2006, sophomore Sally Hayes of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, was introduced to more than just liberal arts.

It was in that class that she read about Illinois senator and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, whose biography, "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance," was used as one of the texts as students explored "exemplary lives."

"He wasn’t handed anything," said Hayes, when asked what impressed her most about Obama from the book. "He really had to work for everything. I think that’s what would make him such a good president. He’s not like the others, who seem to have being president as just the next thing on their résumé."

Hayes has taken that belief in Obama’s abilities to the next level, serving as an intern for his campaign since last summer. The experience hit a big peak last week, as Hayes was back in her hometown, serving as a co-captain of one of Mount Pleasant’s five voting precincts, along with her mother, Monie Hayes, who’s an assistant professor of educational studies at MC.

"I am pumped up!" exclaimed Hayes, when asked how she was feeling the day after Obama’s caucus victory in Iowa.

At her local caucus, Hayes explained there were 10 delegates up for grabs. It took 26 voters to make a candidate "viable," and Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards each easily reached that number with about an equal number of supporters. Bill Richardson had only 11 supporters, so there was an effort made to get that group to switch their support to one of the other major candidates. Hayes found herself in the interesting position of trying to sway those individuals toward Obama, while former Iowa governor and one-time 2008 presidential hopeful Tom Vilsack, who is one of her neighbors, was trying to win them over to Clinton’s camp.

Eventually, said Hayes, a deal was struck, and enough individuals left each camp to give Richardson 26 supporters and one delegate, while Obama, Clinton and Edwards evenly split the other nine.

Another of Hayes’ peak experiences came the week earlier, when she and one of her friends were asked to introduce Obama at a rally at Mt. Pleasant High School.

"Before we introduced him, we were talking with him backstage," she said. "He talked about Monmouth with me. He knew where it was, and he asked me about school and being on the soccer team."

An active student at Monmouth, Hayes is a member of the Associated Students of Monmouth College (student senate), earned a varsity letter in soccer for the Fighting Scots last fall and was named to the Midwest Conference All-Academic team. Currently a triple major in classics, history and philosophy, Hayes is also working on starting a "Students for Obama" chapter at Monmouth.

Other duties she performed as an intern for Obama’s campaign include helping to organize his visit last summer to Mount Pleasant, putting together a recent party for young voters and making lots of phone calls to registered voters.

Asked what she says to help sway undecided voters toward Obama, Hayes replied, "I give them an overview of his accomplishments. I also tell them that, unlike the other candidates, he doesn’t accept lobbyist money. And for those who say he doesn’t have enough experience, I point out that he has as much experience as Abraham Lincoln did when he became president."

Although Hayes’ candidate achieved a lofty goal with his victory in Iowa, she doesn’t want her work to be finished yet. She applied online to volunteer for his campaign in other states – perhaps Illinois – and she is looking forward to the county convention in Iowa in March. It’s possible that Hayes could be named a delegate there and advance to the state convention in April and then, perhaps, the National Democratic Convention in June.