On Monday April 5, Saint Louis University alumnus Ed Martin spent time at the Library Annex with a group composed mostly of supporters—supporters of Martin’s campaign for his fall 2010 election into the United States Congress.
Martin is a 1998 SLU Law School graduate, where he studied health care ethics and health law. Now, Martin, who has never run for public office before, is working with current SLU students to raise awareness of his campaign.
“We wanted to have an event that would reach out to the SLU community,” Student Government Association Vice President for Student Affairs Mandy Mason said.
The event was David Gregory’s idea; Gregory, a current law student, started working with Martin after meeting him at a separate fundraising event.
When asked why he is helping spread Martin’s name around campus, Gregory spoke of Martin’s affiliations with the University.
“He’s got strong moral ties to SLU,” Gregory said. Gregory also expressed that Martin has a lot of SLU students who reside in his district.
“He absolutely loves the St. Louis area,” Mason said.
Martin’s apparent love for the St. Louis area can be traced back to his academic years at SLU.
“I was mostly involved with the Law School,” Martin said. “I worked with some of the pro-life groups, and immediately after law school I went to work for the St. Louis Archdiocese.”
Along with the Archdiocese, Martin worked alongside many other SLU students at the Catholic Legal Assistance Ministry. It was there that Martin used his knowledge of the legal system to help those living in the area.
Martin’s involvement with Catholicism did not stop stateside. In 1997, Martin spent a month working in Vatican City after being appointed by Pope John Paul II.
Martin attributes his interest in politics to his desire to help people and society in general. This is reflected in Martin’s campaign style.
“Our campaign embodies a sort of old fashioned connection to where the people are,” Martin said.
He has accomplished this by conducting multiple small-scale meetings all across the city in order to connect with all his constituents. Martin also recognizes this characteristic in SLU.
“SLU has a lot of non-conventional students, and that really contributes to a real connection to the community.”
While Martin will be busy campaigning for his election later this year, he did want to convey one message to SLU students now.
“I think the most important thing for anyone is to get involved,” Martin said, “Between the Internet and other social media, there are many ways for [students] to be involved.”
Martin expressed that getting involved early allows for the start to an idea of what [a student] believes in and wants to fight for.
