TSG director promotes student vote ahead of primary

Quinn Litsinger believes college is the best time for students to find a lifelong passion for activism.  

“There’s a lot of untapped potential in terms of voters that come to campus and may not know so much about their voting rights,” said Litsinger, a sophomore political science major. “It’s really important.”

In his second semester serving as Temple Student Government’s director of government affairs, Litsinger is adamant about increasing civic engagement on campus and ensuring students are participating in the political system.

This semester, Litsinger has planned a number of initiatives around election season, including a voter registration contest: the organization that can register the most voters during the month of March ahead of Pennsylvania’s deadline to register for the primaries on April 13 will win a $100 Visa gift card.

“It’s a way to mobilize student organizations on campus to do good civic engagement work,” Litsinger said.

Litsinger will also be creating two election guides for students explaining how to register to vote, how to find one’s polling place and educating oneself on the candidates, he said.

The guides will be highlighted in Nutshell, Temple’s university-run email newsletter. 

Last semester, Litsinger hosted a town hall meeting educating students on how they could prepare themselves for the November 2019 general election in Philadelphia. Litsinger also created a social media campaign to remind students to vote and provided information on sample ballots and polling locations.

Litsinger led TSG’s successful effort to add links to voter registration websites on TUmobile and TUportal during the week leading up to the fall registration deadline, he said. The links will return to the sites prior to the primary and general election later this year, he added.

Litsinger also helped organize a National Voter Registration Day drive at the Bell Tower in collaboration with Temple Political Science Society, Temple College Democrats, Temple College Republicans and Temple Debate Society on Sept. 24.

Kaya Jones, TSG’s vice president of external affairs, said that when she sets a goal for Litsinger, she never worries about whether he can reach it.

“He’s always trying to continue growing and puts in the work to do that,” Jones said. “I commend him for that.”

Aside from TSG, Litsinger is involved in the Temple community as an Owl Team Leader and a Student Coordinator. He also served as the programming coordinator for Temple’s first Sleep Out, during which students camped out near the Bell Tower to raise awareness of homelessness.

Elizabeth Harris, Temple’s parent and family programs coordinator, said Litsinger, who she supervised, makes students feel cared for.

“Quinn is also very humble,” Harris said. “He puts so much work into something and truly only does it for the betterment of the community, not for his own personal gain.”

Besides voting, civic engagement also involves advocacy and talking to one’s representatives, Litsinger said.

“I really hope through my efforts, students are in a better position to participate in the political process,” Litsinger said.