Goucher named one of the most engaged campuses for student voting

Goucher College has been recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge as one of the 2022 ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting. The list recognizes colleges and universities for making intentional efforts to increase student voter participation.

“Year in and year out, Goucher students are demonstrating their commitment to our democracy by voting,” said Nina Kasniunas, associate professor in political science and chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Goucher. “There is always a cohort of students, faculty, and staff who eagerly organize efforts to ensure that all eligible are registered to vote and have access to their ballots. Students care deeply about policy issues like reproductive rights, gun control, and global warming and want to be sure their voices are heard. Voting isn’t the only form of democratic engagement, and it takes using all forms to enact real change, but it’s one that our students don’t take for granted.”

In an email to the campus community on Election Day this year, Goucher College President Kent Devereaux wrote, “Goucher College has a strong history of civic engagement. Goucher student voting increased significantly in the 2020 presidential election, rising to 74% in 2020 from a rate of 66% in 2016. Goucher student voter engagement is higher than the national average of 66% for four-year institutions and 69% for private, four-year institutions.” He pointed to Kasniunas and the students of Goucher Votes and the Voter Mobilization Team as critical to the work of continuing voter registration across campus.

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 Challenge staff, to institutionalize nonpartisan civic learning, political engagement, and voter participation on their campus. The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge currently engages over 9 million students from more than 960 institutions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.