'The Washington Monthy' magazine names the University to its '2020 Best Colleges for Student Voting Honor Roll.'
California University of Pennsylvania has once again been named by “The Washington Monthly” magazine as one of the best in the nation for student voting efforts.
The 157 schools on the 2020 Best Colleges for Student Voting Honor Roll received points for participation in the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE), a project at Tufts University that calculates voter registration and turnout rates for college campuses, and submission of election-year “action plans” to the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, which encourages universities to promote civic engagement.
They are ranked according to voter registration rate.
The COVID-19 pandemic will pose special challenges for the 2020 general election, notes Daniel Block in “The Washington Monthly.” Nevertheless, he says, higher education institutions continue to have a special obligation to help young Americans become active political citizens.
“We are committed to educating our students about the importance of civic engagement,” said Dr. Laura Tuennerman, director of the American Democracy Project at Cal U. “We are honored to be recognized by ‘The Washington Monthly’ for our efforts.”
The American Democracy Project at Cal U leads the university’s voter engagement efforts. The nonpartisan student organization organizes voter registration drives on campus, holds campaign-season events to educate students about the candidates and issues, helps students get to the polls on Election Day, and brings experts to campus to analyze election results.
This year, the ADP plans a virtual voter registration drive Sept. 21-23. Information for student voters is online at calu.edu/vote2020.
Cal U has been recognized in recent years for encouraging students to vote. In 2019, the Fair Election Center’s Campus Vote Project designated Cal U a “Voter Friendly Campus” for developing a plan to get students involved in the 2018 midterm elections, facilitating voter engagement and analyzing the initiative’s success.
It was the second time Cal U received the “Voter Friendly” designation.