Commentary: Conventions a time to reflect on the privilege of being an American

As an educator, I want the significance of this election year and the privilege of what it means to be an American to get the attention they deserve.

This is not the first time a woman has run for president, but it is the first time a major party has nominated a woman for the office. Before Hillary Clinton, there were Margaret Chase Smith, Shirley Chisholm, and Patricia Schroeder. Most people will say, "Wait, what? They ran for president? When?"

Recently, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow showed footage of Smith and reflected on her 1964 presidential bid. Finally, I thought, these important, historic campaigns - events often left off the history pages - are getting some major news coverage.

I spent two weeks in July as a faculty leader in Philadelphia - the birthplace of American democracy - for the Democratic National Convention. I brought college students to the convention and taught them about the historic nature of this election, asking them, "What does it mean to be an American?" and "What does it mean that the Democratic nominee is a woman?"

By examining campaigns of women who have run for president over the past 50 years, we learn that Smith spoke out against McCarthyism and made it all the way to the Republican nominating convention with her presidential bid.

The 1972 campaign of U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D., N.Y.) energized elements of an emerging women's political movement, and she often said that being a woman presidential candidate was more daunting than being a black candidate.

In 1988, the press made a big deal of a tearful U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder (D., Colo.) during her withdrawal speech. After the race, she said, "I learned that I don't look like the president." In 2000, Elizabeth Dole was widely described as "the first serious woman presidential candidate," but she dropped out when she realized that she could not compete financially with George W. Bush and Steve Forbes.

In 2004, Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D., Ill.) - the first and only African American woman elected to the Senate - failed to launch as the only woman in a sea of Democratic hopefuls. Tea-party supporter Michele Bachmann won the Ames Straw Poll as a candidate for the Republican nomination in 2012 but dropped out when she finished poorly in the Iowa caucuses.

National political elections and the conventions are monumental events - a fact that must not be lost in the unfortunate vitriol of this campaign. The democratic process is important, significant, and, luckily, teachable.

This was my third time escorting students to a convention. In 2000 and 2004, I led groups of students through the Republican National Conventions in Philadelphia and New York, respectively. I still hear from several of the students - now in their 30s - who remember these trips as the highlights of their college careers. They reach out to me to reminisce and reflect on current political stories.

I can relate to their experiences; for years, I taught political communication, but until I stepped into a national political convention, my understanding was just secondhand. I now teach the political convention as someone who has been there. Being there matters.

This fall, in my American studies course, students will read Clinton's and Donald Trump's autobiographies. We will reflect on how the nominees see themselves as Americans and what it means to them. Students also will be asked to interview a person over 50 to learn what being an American means to him or her.

A great person to ask would be my neighbor, an 84-year-old veteran and tireless volunteer. When I noticed that his flag is always waving outside his home, he told me, "After 9/11, I fly the flag every single day." His community involvement and his assiduous flag display are part of what it means to him to be an American.

With this election, let's all be teachers and remember that, from a historical perspective, this is a critical moment in time. It is a great privilege to be an American - an honor and freedom that crosses party lines. It is what unites us all. As I tell students, who we are voting for is less important than the fact that we are voting.

Nichola Gutgold is a professor of communication arts and sciences at Penn State and the author of "Madam President: Five Women Who Paved the Way." ngutgold@gmail.com