Posted 8:49 a.m. Wednesday, March 10, 2021
National groups recognize UW-La Crosse for voting efforts
Campus registration days. A friendly march to City Hall to register to vote. Voting awareness. All three were among the reasons the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse is one of more than 230 campuses in 37 states and the District of Columbia designated as a “Voter Friendly Campus.”
The initiative, led by national nonpartisan organizations Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project and NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, held participating institutions accountable for planning and implementing practices that encourage their students to register and vote in 2020 elections and beyond.
The mission of the Voter Friendly Campus designation is to bolster efforts that help students overcome barriers to participate in the political process.
Campuses were evaluated on their plan how to register, educate and turn out student voters in 2020. The campuses were also evaluated on how they facilitated voter engagement efforts, along with a final analysis of efforts all in the face of the upheaval caused by a global pandemic. The designation is valid through December 2022.
“UW-La Crosse has made a strong statement about the civic mission of higher education to prepare students to be engaged participants in our democracy,” says Kelsi Grubisich, Civic Engagement and Leadership Coordinator at UWL. “We’re excited to continue engaging students through 2021, 2022 and beyond.”
Institutions designated Voter Friendly Campuses represent a wide range of two-year, four-year, public, private, rural and urban campuses. The program serves more than 3.5 million students.