Share this Story
Virginia Wesleyan Designated a Voter Friendly Campus
Campus Community Recognized for Cultivating Habits Associated with Good Citizenship
News Release | March 21, 2017
Virginia Wesleyan College is now one of 83 campuses in 23 states designated as a “Voter-Friendly Campus.” The initiative, led by national nonpartisan organizations Campus Vote Project (CVP) 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 the 2016 general election and in the coming years.
The mission of the Voter Friendly Campus designation is to bolster efforts that help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process. Virginia Wesleyan was evaluated based on a campus plan that focused on how to engage student voters in the fall of 2016, how to facilitate voter engagement efforts on campus, and a final analysis of these efforts. The designation earned is valid through December 2018.
As part of the effort to be designated a voter friendly campus, Virginia Wesleyan, under the leadership of Assistant Professor of Political Science Leslie Caughell and Director of Community Service Diane Hotaling, established a campus election engagement planning team which provided the foundation for the Marlins VOTE campaign success.
This group worked to increase the visibility for the Marlins VOTE campaign by sponsoring voter registration drives on campus, organizing a series of election-related events entitled and organizing Debate Watch Parties and ensuring easy access to voter applications and copies of ballots. They worked with VWC’s Marketing and Communications Office to promote their activities throughout campus using the College’s website and social media outlets and printing promotional banners, posters, buttons and t-shirts.
Faculty leadership was also key to the education of students on election issues and student involvement in the Marlins VOTE campaign. Faculty encouraged student engagement in the campaign and collaborated with student affairs to create a successful election engagement model.
“I am proud that Virginia Wesleyan was one of only four institutions in the state of Virginia designated a "voter friendly campus," said Caughell. “This designation reflects our campus' commitment to cultivating habits associated with good citizenship, such as knowledge, dialogue, and active participation. It also provides national recognition of our institution's past success in educating and mobilizing voters, and in the long term strategy that we have designed to build on these successes.”
Virginia Wesleyan has made a strong statement about the civic mission of higher education to prepare students to be engaged participants in our democracy and is excited to continue engaging students through 2017, 2018, and beyond.
Caughell added, “The students, staff, and faculty working with Marlins Vote understand that our efforts cannot end the day after an election, and we're excited to continue to involve those on our campus in politics at the local, state, and national levels.”
The institutions designated Voter Friendly Campuses represent a wide range of two-year, four-year, public, private, rural, and urban campuses, with a total enrollment of nearly 1.4 million students.