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Today, the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge recognized William Paterson University for its nonpartisan democratic engagements efforts that fostered high levels of student voter engagement in the 2022 midterm elections. WP received the Bronze Seal, reflecting its commitment to ensuring that nonpartisan democratic engagement is a defining feature of campus life.
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a national awards program that empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. WP was recognized alongside more than 500 campuses using data from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement out of Tufts University.
A big part of WP’s campus voting culture can be attributed to its active chapter of the American Democracy Project (ADP), currently led by sociology professor Mark Ellis and the campus ADP Committee. All year, every year, ADP organizes programming aimed at creating graduates who are committed to engaging in meaningful actions as democratic citizens.
This semester, leading into the presidential election, ADP will host programming in the David and Lorraine Cheng Library on campus, to include Voting 101 seminars where students are taught how to vote in a real voting booth. In the past, elected officials from across the state have visited these seminars and met with the students in attendance.
William Paterson University will also serve as the host for the State of New Jersey’s Ballot Bowl Kick-Off pep rally on September 17, 2024. The Ballot Bowl is an annual statewide nonpartisan voter registration and engagement competition, established by Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way. 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.
Lt. Governor Way will attend the kick-off pep rally at WP and two New York Giants football players, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Bobby Okereke, are scheduled to appear as well.
That same day, the University’s will celebrate Constitution Day, as it does annually, to mark the day the U.S. Constitution was signed: September 17, 1787.
ADP is also planning an Election Night watch party and other events leading up to the election on November 5, as well as a post-election campus discussion.
“Ahead of the 2024 elections, ALL IN campuses are ready to build on the momentum from 2022 to ensure their communities are ready to make an even bigger impact this fall,” says Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, Executive Director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “ALL IN is proud to celebrate and honor top-performing campuses, like William Paterson University, who demonstrate that nonpartisan student voter engagement is possible and effective.”
09/11/24
