Alvernia recognized for student voter engagement for fourth consecutive election

University receives silver seal for fostering nonpartisan democratic participation

At the 2024 ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge Awards Ceremony held to recognize colleges and universities that demonstrate excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement efforts, Alvernia University received a silver sealfor excellence in student voter engagement with a voting rate of 35% in 2022, nearly 5% higher than the average across all institutions. This is the fourth consecutive election cycle, including midterms and primaries, that Alvernia was recognized for.

"As a Franciscan Catholic institution, Alvernia is deeply committed to principles of civic engagement and justice," said President Glynis A. Fitzgerald, Ph.D. "Being recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge since 2017 is an example of the Alvernia community's commitment to developing students as ethical leaders and engaged citizens that better their communities through the core values of peacemaking, contemplation and collegiality."

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challengeis a nonpartisan, national initiative recognizing and supporting campuses as they work to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement and full student voter participation. The Challenge encourages higher education institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship and make democratic participation a core value on their campus.

"At Alvernia, we see participation in the electoral process as the foundation of being an engaged citizen and an ethical leader," said Vice President of Mission, Diversity and Inclusion, Darryl Mace, Ph.D. "The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy and it is only fitting that we should inspire our students to both register to vote and vote as well as facilitate opportunities for civil discourse and dialogue. Several offices and departments across campus, including the Division of Mission, Diversity and Inclusion, are dedicated to hosting special events, discussions and voter registration tables as well as sending out messaging regarding voter registration."

Dr. Victoria Williams held an Election 2024 Bootcamp course in the spring of the 2023-24 academic year to empower students to become informed citizens, assist them with gaining confidence to have political conversations, and prepare them to vote. Student outcomes of the course included articulating stances of the major political parties on contemporary issues, identifying presidential candidates and their policy positions, evaluating campaigns and campaign strategies, analyzing the reliability of sources of political information, demonstrating media literacy, hearing form local politicians and more.

"The Election Bootcamp is a class designed to help Alvernia students become full participants in our democracy," said Williams. "No matter your major or your career, politics impacts everyone. But sometimes it feels really overwhelming when you don't really understand it. This course helps students at all levels understand the political process, the primaries and general election so they can be more informed voters and more empowered citizens. Students also got to learn about career avenues within politics beyond being an elected official."

Ahead of the 2022 midterm election, history and political sciences professors also hosted a professors hosted a "Fragile Democracy" roundtablefocused on the state of democracy in America, what makes democratic forms of government unique and important, and what characteristics democratic governments share to help prepare students to vote. Alvernia also partners with the Berks County League of Women's Voters to have voter registration tables on campus ahead of primary and midterm elections. The ALL IN Challenge partnership also provides Alvernia with the Pennsylvania Department of State's Ready to Vote Toolkits for voter education and college student voters which are distributed across campus through print and digital communications. Alvernia also received the voter-friendly campus designation in 2021.