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William Paterson University students stepped up on Election Day and just earned the recognition to prove it.
This week, WP was recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge—a national initiative—as a “Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting.” The University also clinched the No. 1 spot among New Jersey campuses of a similar size for its student-voter registration and commitment rates in the November 2024 election, announced Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way during a statewide celebration of the 7th annual Ballot Bowl.
“It truly does take an entire community and campus-wide partnerships to make recognitions like this happen,” says WP sociology professor Mark Ellis, director of the University’s chapter of the American Democracy Project. “In addition to encouraging students to vote, our campus knows the importance of providing programs to educate them on the issues on the ballot.”
Director of Campus Activities, Service, and Leadership Donna Minnich Spuhler and Reference and Outreach Librarian Gary Marks '10, MA '13 led ADP’s activities this year with assistance from Matthew Mullins ’24—who has been working as a civic engagement coordinator on campus through AmeriCorps.
All year, every year, ADP organizes programming aimed at creating graduates who are informed members of society committed to engaging in meaningful actions in local and global democratic processes. This year, ADP hosted numerous Voting 101 seminars—during which students were taught to vote in a real voting booth—as well as a panel discussion covering issues on the November 2024 ballot, an Election Night watch party, among other events.
At the watch party, Marks used an interactive map of the Electoral College to teach students about that process and show them election results from each state as they came in. He also created an Election Night Resource Guide, which provided students an opportunity to create their own Electoral Map projections and follow election results for every level of government.
Marks and Mullins broadcasted election results as they came in from different television news outlets to demonstrate to students how the elections are widely covered and analyzed. They also used trivia games like Kahoot and Quizlet, and Election themed BINGO to keep students entertained, engaged, and educated throughout an important night in American history.
SEE NEWS 12 NEW JERSEY’S COVERAGE OF THE UNIVERSITY’S WATCH PARTY HERE.
Lt. Governor Way, who also serves as New Jersey’s Secretary of State, established Ballot Bowl—the annual statewide nonpartisan voter registration and engagement competition—in 2017. Therein, collegiate-based teams compete to see who can register the most voters and obtain the most commitments to vote based on their campus size.
William Paterson had the honor of being selected to serve as the host site for this year’s Ballot Bowl Kick-Off event on September 17 (National Voter Registration Day and Constitution Day), drawing college students from across the state to our campus. The Lt. Governor addressed the crowd and elected officials from across the area took part in the celebration, which featured New York Giants players Kayvon Thibodeaux and Bobby Okereke.
SEE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS HERE.
“Civic engagement is one of William Paterson University’s core values; we were the first university in the State of New Jersey to require that students take a civic engagement class. Our participation in the New Jersey Ballot Bowl—ensuring that our students know their vote counts—is only part of how we teach our students why and how they should contribute to our communities,” says Minnich Spuhler.
“Let's continue to encourage our students to stay engaged in elections and in practicing social justice each and every day,” adds Professor Ellis.
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