The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge recently recognized Temple Votes, the university’s non-partisan voter registration organization, for their promotion of civic education, political engagement and student voter participation.
The ALL IN Challenge promotes the idea that colleges should play an active role in educating and motivating students to engage in the democratic process. They work on more than 1,000 institutions, and in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Temple is one of 192 universities across the country to receive the Highly Established Action Plan Seal award during the 2024 election cycle. The organization has outlined important dates, getting informed about the process and mobilized students and faculty to get out to vote.
With the 2024 election around the corner on Nov. 5, Temple Votes has frequently been around campus registering students to vote.
“What it means to me is that we have laid the foundation to reach students through many different avenues and means, and are really taking a collaborative approach to this work,” said Deanne DeCrescenzo, the associate dean of students and Temple Votes organizer. “Both from the academic side of things through co curricular experiences and trying to infuse the values of democracy and civic engagement into our students’ experience here at the university.”
Temple Votes holds events around campus like voter registration tabling and voting education classes, and sends out important information to prepare students to inform them about the upcoming elections through The Nutshell email newsletters.
They recently hosted a “Democracy Discussion” on Sept. 26 in collaboration with the Committee of Seventy, which included City Commissioner Seth Bluestein as a guest speaker, as well as an information session about becoming a poll worker on Oct. 1. Future “Democracy Discussions” include a session about the importance of voting and learning about candidate campaigns on Oct. 9.
DeCrenscenzo believed the award recognizes Temple Votes’ plan to engage students and the community through voter registration, education and mobilization efforts.
Sean Murphy, political science program coordinator and member of the Temple Votes coalition, said the organization’s goal is to educate students about the stakes of the 2024 election and how the election directly affects them.
“My big concern as part of Temple Votes is making sure that students understand all offices are on the ballot in addition to the presidency such as the U.S. Senate, Congress, and then in
Pennsylvania, we have our row offices and state legislative candidates as well,” Murphy said. “So just communicating that, like all this stuff’s on the ballot, and it’s really important, because it all affects your futures.”
In 2022, 1 in 3 voters between the ages of 18 to 29 in Pennsylvania casted a ballot in the election, ranking sixth in the United States in youth voter turnout by state.
There are 745,487 voters ages 18-24 in Pennsylvania, making up 8% of the electorate. Further, 93,835 registered voters between the ages of 18 to 24 are in Philadelphia, making Philadelphians 12% of the state’s youth vote, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Non-partisan organizations around Philadelphia including the Committee of Seventy have collaborated with Temple Votes to educate students about the offices on the ballot and what is at stake this election, and training students to become poll workers.
Temple Votes’ coalition includes Temple Athletics, the Office of Sustainability, Student Activities, Division of Student Affairs and University Libraries, along with many other university departments.
“Our coalition is a really dynamic and pretty diverse group of individuals who are contributing in that way,” DeCrescenzo said.
Temple Votes also works with Temple Student Government to help encourage student voting. Since they are uniquely situated as a contact between student organizations and administration or any other avenues, they can help to work alongside many others to get students in the booths this November, said Jeron Williams, TSG’s director of governmental affairs.
“Temple Student Government is honored to participate in the Temple Votes collaborative for another year and help press the importance of elections and the civic privileges of voting,” Williams wrote in a statement to The Temple News. “We’re excited to engage our peers in democracy, and to collaborate with local elected officials and the surrounding North Philadelphia community to make this election a successful and safe one for all.”
Be the first to comment