WASHINGTON, DC – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education announced late this week “272 campuses in 39 states and the District of Columbia were designated as ‘Voter Friendly Campuses.’”
According to the Fair Election Center Campus Vote Project and NASPA (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators) the campuses have “planned and implemented nonpartisan practices that encourage their students to register and vote.”
NASPA and the Campus Vote Project, in a joint statement, said, “The mission of the Voter Friendly Campus designation is to bolster colleges and universities’ nonpartisan efforts to help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process.”
They added selection was based on how “institutions planned to register, educate, and turnout student voters in 2024” and “how they facilitated voter engagement efforts on their campuses, followed by a final analysis of their nonpartisan efforts.
Amelia Parnell, NASPA president, noted, “NASPA has partnered with the Fair Elections Center on this work for nearly a decade,” looking “forward to continuing to elevate and support the valuable work of the students, administrators, and faculty whose tireless efforts are an essential part of our democracy.”
Bob Brandon, president and co-founder of the Fair Elections Center, said, “Due to ever-mounting barriers, engaging students in our Democracy is not easy work,” commending these schools for taking “remarkable steps towards institutionalizing voting practices into their operations, to ensure young people on their campuses are able and ready to fulfill their civic responsibility.”
Brandon, according to NASPA and the Campus Vote Project, added, “Fair Elections Center, through its Campus Vote Project and partners like NASPA, remains committed to working alongside universities and providing the necessary tools and resources to support civic education through the Voter Friendly Campus program.”
