FAYETTE, Iowa (April 09, 2008) -Upper Iowa University (UIU) junior Curtis Goddard has much to keep him busy these days. He is a student athlete, starting center for Peacock football, marketing major and a young man serious about politics. Goddard has been elected to serve as a delegate to the Iowa State Democratic Convention in Des Moines later this spring
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Goddard originates from Naples, Fla. but his family moved to West Liberty, Iowa during his junior year of high school in order to help out his grandmother. He says moving to Iowa has been a positive thing for many reasons. Goddard has over 28 cousins in the area, and he could play both offense and defense on the high school football team in Iowa. "West Liberty had a very successful season my senior year," said Goddard. "We were ranked fifth in the state at the time, only one game away from the playoffs before losing."
Football is what brought Goddard to UIU, where he decided on marketing for his major and where he found a zeal for politics. "I stopped into the Student Development office and Kyle Strosahl with the Obama campaign happened to be there," said Goddard. "I started asking him questions and he took the time to answer every one right then and there. The questions he couldn't answer, he e-mailed to me a short time later." After talking to Strosahl, Goddard e-mailed the Clinton and Edwards' campaigns with similar questions but, to this day, still has not heard anything.
Goddard says he sacrificed his Christmas vacation last year to campaign for Obama in Arlington and the city of Fayette. He then caucused for Obama, joined the Fayette County Democratic party, was elected secretary, and finally was chosen unanimously to represent Fayette County as one of its 18 delegates to the district and state conventions.
The district convention is April 26 in Dubuque, and Goddard plans to be there. "It is really about hard work and dedication to what you believe in," said Goddard. "I'm taking it one step at a time but my goal is to represent Iowa at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Colorado this August as a state delegate." If elected, Goddard could be among the 57 Iowa Democratic delegates in attendance.
The Iowa Democratic Convention will be held June 14 in Des Moines, and the Democratic National Convention will be August 25 - 28 in Denver, Colorado.
For more information about the Iowa voting process, go to www.iowa.gov. For more information about Upper Iowa University and its degree programs, go to www.uiu.edu.
Contact:
Sheila Miller
Director of Public Relations
Work - 563-425-5326
Cell - 319-610-7108
Fax - 563-425-5701
millers@uiu.edu
www.uiu.edu
