Indiana State University recognized as one of the Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting

By Press release submission

Nov 26, 2022

Today, Indiana State University has been recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) among 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 for making intentional efforts to increase student voter participation. ISU joins a group of 394 colleges and universities recognized for efforts to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement in the 2022 election.

In Indiana, ISU received the designation along with Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University South Bend, Indiana University Southeast, IUPUI, and Purdue University.

“At Indiana State University, we are committed to preparing students to become active and engaged participants of our democracy,” said ISU President Dr. Deborah J. Curtis. “We are proud of this recognition as we continue to deliver on our very important mission of educating the next generation of leaders in our state and nation.”

ISU’s designation was the result of efforts on campus to champion student voting, specifically increasing student voting rates. A campus-wide working group was convened to centralize opportunities for student voter registration, voter education, and voter turnout. The university participated in the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) in order to measure student voting rates, and developed and implemented a data-driven action plan. This action plan, as well as the NSLVE results, were shared with the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.

“The designation reflects years of good work on the part of the ISU American Democracy Project and numerous campus partners, including SGA, the Department of Political Science, the University College, Campus Life and many others who are deeply committed to ISU’s goal of graduating engaged citizens,” said Dr. Nancy Rogers, Vice President for University Engagement. “Young people have a great deal at stake in every local, state and national election. At ISU, we are working every day to help students recognize and use their own agency in impacting the future of our democracy.”

This work is driven by students through the American Democracy Project (STATE for ADP), managed by ISU’s Center for Community Engagement. Their initial focus was on registering students to vote before the deadline. Once the deadline passed, they shifted their focus to increasing voter turnout on elections. Throughout the year, ADP offers programming to help students learn about important political issues and reflect on how their participation in the democratic process impacts those issues.

“I am so proud of all the work STATE for ADP has done for student voting on campus,” said President Emilee Hartzler. “Student voices matter and deserve to be heard. I am glad to see that this mission has been so successful. Making the pledge to vote is the first step to being a more informed and civically engaged citizen.”

Said Jazmin Cornejo, STATE for ADP Vice President: “Voting tables here at ISU had a bigger purpose than just registering to vote. It was answering questions any students approached the table with to understand why we need to vote or getting an understanding of how their singular vote could make a difference. It has been an amazing opportunity to help students discover the importance of voting and take the initial steps to help them understand their vote now impacts their future.”