Though Gannon Sprinkle has the chance to make history as the first undergraduate elected to the College Park City Council next month, that isn’t what the University of Maryland junior is focused on.

Instead, Sprinkle is more excited to discuss a slew of policy proposals for the City Council, from a way to prevent inflation in off-campus student housing to growing green space and increasing grocery options.

“I very much enjoy hyper-local government,” said the 20-year-old government and politics major, who has done stints as the executive vice president of UMD’s Student Government Association and the deputy student liaison for the College Park City Council.

He also has experience working as an intern at the Prince George’s County Council and in the Maryland General Assembly.

Sprinkle is on the ballot in the District 3 special election on March 11.

Voters will choose between Sprinkle; Michael Meadow, a mechanical engineer and local advisory board member pushing to expand the local contract police force; and Ray Ranker, a chaplain at UMD with experience on a local civic association and the city’s Charter Review Commission.

The seat opened when council member Stuart Adams resigned last month, due to difficulties balancing his two young children, day job and responsibilities on the council, after serving for three years. The winner of the special election will serve until November’s general election.

Though Adams said in an interview that he isn’t endorsing a candidate in the race, he noted that Sprinkle was a serious option for voters.

“I worked with Gannon on many different initiatives, and he was present for dozens of council meetings and learned how the process works,” he said. “Gannon was always attentive and willing to provide an informed opinion.”

This isn’t the first time an undergraduate student has run for City Council, according to Yvette Allen, the College Park city clerk. Allen said she could remember three students, off the top of her head, who ran for seats in District 2 or 3 in the last 10 years.

Adams said that Sprinkle differs from other undergraduate candidates in the past.

“There have been students that have run before for council seats that seem to focus mainly on the student perspective, but from my personal experience with Gannon, he not only considers student perspectives, but also long-term resident perspectives,” Adams said.

When he isn’t doing homework, Sprinkle often spends his free time knocking on doors and speaking to voters. He has built up a campaign staff of about a dozen, most of them students at the University of Maryland flagship campus.

“A lot of students have historically not had a voting representative on the council, and I wish to change that,” he said.

Dhruvak Mirani, a UMD student and Sprinkle’s campaign manager, said the team was “really optimistic” but isn’t “taking any votes for granted.”

“Gannon wants to knock on every door and hear every voice,” he said.

Mirani worked with Sprinkle when they both served as student liaisons to the College Park City Council last year.

“When you talk to Gannon, you can hear his experience in the way he speaks and the issues he talks about,” Mirani said. “He’s done the work, he’s gone to City Council meetings, and nobody should discount that because of his age.”

Sprinkle and his team are leaning into social media and digital strategies to reach student voters. There are 30,000 undergraduate students at UMD, and another 10,000 graduate students, but few participate in local elections, according to Mirani.

“We’re encouraging students who live in District 3 to update their voter address,” he said. “Students, if we voted in larger numbers, can drive issues.”

Allen, College Park’s city clerk, said her office doesn’t collect data on how many students vote in elections but agreed that “usually they don’t come out.”

Sprinkle said he is still committed to building relationships with long-term College Park residents.

“Lots of long-term residents are graduates of the university themselves,” he said. He hopes to “bridge the gap” between those residents and students.

“I want to provide representation for all,” he said.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.