Instructor Betty Luther-Hillman Explains Electoral College at Assembly

By ARYAN AGARWAL, ISHA SASTRY, MELIA THIBAULT, and ANDREW YANG

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons 

On Tuesday, Nov. 5, the Academy gathered in the Assembly Hall for an informative session on the Electoral College system in the United States. The Chair of the Department of History and Intrusctor in History Betty Luther-Hillman (also known as “Ms. Lu-Hill”) presented a detailed slideshow which gave Exonians a fundamental understanding of the system in light of the 2024 presidential election. This week, The Exonian sought insight from Luther-Hillman and students across campus for their thoughts on the assembly, as well as the broader system.

The Electoral College is the core institution which the United States utilizes in order to decide Presidents. The system has been applied in the United States Presidential election since its first establishment in 1787 as a cornerstone of the Constitution. The system assigns each state a number of electors based on its total number of congressional representatives—reflecting both Senate and House seats. With a total of 538 electors, a majority of 270 electoral votes are required to gain office. Most states use a “winner takes all” approach, where the winner of the popular vote takes all of the electoral votes in the state. There has been various scholarship on the history surrounding the system, as well as contention regarding its efficacy.

Luther-Hillman’s discussion delved into the basic workings of the system as well as the historical context in which it was created. Luther-Hillman said, “I explained the origins of the Electoral College system, how it evolved from the original vision of the writers of the Constitution, and some of the intricacies of how it works in practice.” She considered recent elections, showing data on how the Electoral College system has played out within the past decade, sticking to the basics as to keep the assembly accessible for all.

Republican Club cohead and upper Olivia Braham said, “The information was succinct and clear and was the perfect way to frame the upcoming election as a display of the American political system working rather than an event that could serve to separate our community.”

Even though many students were familiar with the Electoral College process already, they still found the assembly helpful. “I think I understand it pretty well. The assembly definitely helped me understand it better than I understood it before,” prep Emma Uras said. 

Braham explained that “though I didn’t learn any new information, I could see how the assembly could be incredibly informative to someone who needed a refresher.”

Uras continued, “My main takeaways from this assembly were that different states have different types of powers and that all states around the country have an important part to play. Even though places like Texas and California have so many electoral votes, a smaller state like New Hampshire, which we are in, is still important throughout it. Everybody still needs to vote to put in their voice.” 

Others expanded on the necessity of Luther-Hillman’s assembly. Exeter Political Union cohead and upper Dylan Richardson said, “we have a lot of students on campus who are international and a lot of students from America who may not have been taught about this. I think it’s important for students to understand how our system of government works.”

“In a place like Exeter where the student body is largely politically inclined, it is incredibly important to ensure that the students know the basics, the process in which our system is enabled,” Braham agreed. 

“I think that this assembly was quite necessary because it gives important information about something that not all people really knowm,” Uras added. “Because all of us are in high school, we’re quite close to becoming the age when we’re all allowed to vote. Voting is an incredibly important part of our duty as civilians and all people should know how it works.”

Exeter Political Union cohead and lower Victor Angeline reflected, “Learning about the history behind the Electoral College process in the assembly has given me more appreciation for it in a sense.”

Luther-Hillman commented on the importance of understanding the Electoral College process. She stated, “It’s a very unique system for electing an executive leader; I don’t think any other democratic system has a similar process. Also, as I discussed during the assembly, it’s reflective of political ideals of the era of early America: concerns about the ability of regular people to pick their political leaders and maintenance of state autonomy in a federal system. So, its history is very relevant for understanding the political culture of the United States.”

Overall this assembly certainly serves a reminder on campus of the complexity of the American political system, and importance of political literacy. Given the tensions surrounding the election and its outcome, Luther-Hillman did an excellent job ensuring an unbiased look into how America functions. Whether students knew a lot or a little about the Electoral College before walking into the assembly hall on Tuesday, all agree that they left with a lot of knowledge and confidence surrounding the processes that run the presidential elections. 

The importance of this knowledge was put best by Luther-Hillman herself: “Knowledge is power, so being knowledgeable about how the process works is a way to feel empowered in a time of uncertainty. And if we don’t have that knowledge, it can be easy to be misled by misinformation or exaggeration.”