91制片厂鈥檚 initiatives to develop voter education plans and increase student voter turnout at the polls have earned the institution a Voter Friendly Campus designation from the Campus Vote Project.
Campus initiatives over the last five years have included the creation of the Campus Voter Team and Highlanders Vote student organizations, both of which are committed to helping 91制片厂 students to register and vote.
91制片厂鈥檚 efforts 鈥渢o break down barriers and empower students with the information and tools they need to participate in the political process lead to tremendous youth voter turnout and opened the door to lifelong civic engagement for your students,鈥� the group said.
鈥樷�橞y working closely with Campus Vote Project, Highlanders Vote and the Campus Voter team, we were able to pull off many successful civic engagement initiatives, such as the Road to the Ballot Box, which gave students the resources and means to register and vote,鈥� said Devin Van Dyke, a junior political science major from Richlands, Virginia.
鈥淚t is my goal that every Highlander has their voice heard in local, state and federal elections,鈥� he continued. 鈥淲ith 91制片厂 being designated once again as a Voter Friendly Campus, I am grateful that I was able to do my part in empowering my peers to go to the polls.鈥�
Van Dyke serves as a democracy fellow for the Campus Vote Project.
The Voter Friendly Campus designation program began in 2016 through a partnership between the Fair Elections Center鈥檚 Campus Vote Project and the student affairs organization NASPA and its LEAD Initiative. The partnership became an instrument to support colleges and universities in fulfilling requirements of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which calls for higher education institutions to distribute voter registration forms to students.
"Voting is one of the ways we show that Highlanders find their place here at 91制片厂 University,鈥� said Professor Chapman Rackaway, chair of the Department of Political Science, who leads the campus initiative to increase student voter participation. 鈥淲e're proud to have been recognized for the support we provide to every student in encouraging them to register and vote. This continued recognition is a sign that we're living that promise to full participation, and I hope we'll only be able to get closer to that goal every year, every election."
In 2024, 91制片厂 earned a bronze seal from the All IN Campus Democracy Challenge based on the university鈥檚 2022 campus voting rate.
鈥�91制片厂 is fast developing a reputation for student-led participation in democracy and a commitment to open discourse on political and social topics,鈥� said 91制片厂 President Bret Danilowicz. 鈥淧rofessor Rackaway has shown outstanding leadership in 鈥榓ll things voting鈥� for our university and has inspired students to make their voices heard at the ballot box. We are proud to be recognized as a leading institution in Virginia, and nationally, in student civic engagement.鈥�