Goucher named 'most engaged campus' for student voting

Goucher College has been recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge as a 2024 ALL IN “Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting.” This ranking recognizes colleges and universities for outstanding efforts to increase nonpartisan student voter participation.

“The research is clear: Colleges and universities that make intentional efforts to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement have higher campus voter registration and voter turnout rates,” said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “This year we saw more colleges than ever before step up their efforts to ensure that their students were registered and ready to make their voices heard at the ballot box. These ‘Most Engaged Campuses’ are setting the standard for nonpartisan civic engagement work for colleges and universities across the country.” 

Following Goucher’s community principles of service, social justice, and responsibility, Goucher Votes, which is Goucher’s student voting mobilization team, worked to increase nonpartisan student voter participation in the 2024 election. The group held the Voter Extravaganza event in September to build community and register students to vote. Nina Kasniunas, associate professor of political science, said about the event, “Goucher is a place where we take voting seriously, and the students embrace that.”

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. Campuses that join the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge complete a set of action items, with the support of ALL IN staff, to institutionalize nonpartisan civic learning and voter participation on their campus. The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge currently engages 10.8 million students from more than 1,075 institutions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.