WASHINGTON, D.C. - Winthrop University has been recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) as a 2024 Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting.
The ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting recognizes colleges and universities for outstanding efforts to increase nonpartisan student voter participation. Winthrop and several other South Carolina institutions join a group of 471 colleges and universities recognized by ALL IN for completing four core actions:
*Participating in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
*Sharing 2022 NSLVE Reports with campus voting data with ALL IN
*Developing and submitting a 2024 democratic engagement action plan with ALL IN
*Having a current signatory to ALL IN’s Higher Education Presidents’ Commitment to Full Student Voter Participation.
Winthrop President Edward Serna ’02 said the university is committed to teaching students about the importance of
local, state and national elections. “We typically recruit students to take on the
role of ambassadors to convey to their fellow students to register and then to vote,”
he said. “Along with sharing voter information, our engagement action plans have been
very successful in the last few election cycles. The goal is to prepare our students
to be engaged citizens for life.”
ALL IN officials said the research is clear. “Colleges and universities that make intentional efforts to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement have higher campus voter registration and voter turnout rates. This year we saw more colleges than ever before step up their efforts to ensure that their students were registered and ready to make their voices heard at the ballot box,” said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “These Most Engaged Campuses are setting the standard for nonpartisan civic engagement work for colleges and universities across the country.”
Winthrop’s Action Plan this year included a partnership between Student Life and Academic Affairs to strengthen voter registration and engagement efforts. A cross-departmental team worked closely to ensure that students heard information about voting and elections in multiple venues and formats. The team also engaged a group of student voting ambassadors to help their peers register and navigate the voting process. This was accomplished through tabling events, speaking to classes, attending events and social media efforts.
Winthrop went beyond its Action Plan by setting up three voting selfie stations on campus where students could get voting information, encourage their peers to register and vote, and share their photos on social media platforms.
Adolphus Belk Jr., director of the John C. West Forum on Politics and Policy, said the acknowledgement is recognition of the hard work put in by a team of students, staff and faculty. “They did an amazing job of generating student interest in this election cycle and teaching them on how and where to vote,” Belk said. “I could not be more proud of our people.”
ABOUT ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge:
ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. Through an intentionally-designed program that provides structure, support and recognition, ALL IN works to improve civic learning, political engagement and voter participation on more than 1,075 campuses nationwide. ALL IN believes higher education should play a role in developing an active and informed citizenry by educating students, motivating them to engage in American democracy and instilling the value of lifelong participation. ALL IN is an initiative of Civic Nation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at longshawj@winthrop.edu or 803/323-2404.
