Posted 11:16 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022
UW-La Crosse recognized as one of the 2022 ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting
UW-La Crosse has been recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge as one of the 2022 ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting.
The ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting recognizes colleges and universities making intentional efforts to increase student voter participation. UWL joins a group of 394 colleges and universities recognized for completing these four actions:
Participated in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
Shared 2020 NSLVE Reports with campus voting data
Developed and submitted a 2022 democratic engagement action plan
Completed a current signatory to ALL IN’s Higher Education Presidents’ Commitment to Full Student Voter Participation
UWL has been involved in initiatives like ALL IN, as well as the Campus Voter Project and Andrew Goodman Foundation, says Jacob Hart, associate director for UWL Student Engagement and Leadership. He says the initiatives have allowed the university to make great strides in educating and encouraging active student participation in civic engagement.
“We have seen increases in voter registration and number of student voters, and at the 2022 mid-terms, welcomed over 1,600 voters on campus,” Hart explains. “Our involvement with ALL IN and other democratic engagement initiatives has reaffirmed our commitment to civil discourse and helped us to emphasize the importance of voting both as a responsibility and a right. We are grateful to our campus and community partners who help to make our improvements in voter engagement possible.”
Because of the involvement with ALL IN, Hart says UWL has seen an increase in both voter registrations, up 10% from 2014-2018, and number of registered students voting, up 17% from 2014-2018.
“We are especially proud of our UWL students for taking civic engagement seriously and are excited to continue reaching new goals in voter outreach, education and action,” says Hart.
Initiatives like ALL IN combined with community partnerships have also served as incentives to improve voter education, outreach and university commitment. Hart says active ambassadors on an election engagement team have produced successful pre-registrations, along with information for students about what they need in order to register and vote.
Hart attributes the successes to the university’s voter engagement team, including Campus Voter Project ambassadors, Matthew Gast and Abi Reiter, as well as Program Coordinator for Civic Engagement & Leadership, Amanda Krafft.
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. Campuses that join the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge complete a set of action items, with the support of ALL IN Challenge staff. The goal is to institutionalize nonpartisan civic learning, political engagement, and voter participation on campus.
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge engages over 9 million students from more than 950 institutions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.