UIC recognized for efforts supporting student voters

The University of Illinois Chicago has been named to ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge’s inaugural ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting recognition program. This program recognizes participating institutions that worked to increase nonpartisan student voter registration, education and turnout and ensure equitable access to the polls for their campus community.

UIC joins a group of 394 colleges and universities acknowledged by ALL IN for meeting four core requirements:

• Participated in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.
• Shared a 2020 National Study of Learning Voting and Engagement Report with campus voting data with ALL IN.
• Developed and submitted a 2022 democratic engagement action plan with ALL IN.
• Have a current signatory to ALL IN’s Higher Education Presidents’ Commitment to Full Student Voter Participation.

UIC also earned ALL IN’s Highly Established Action Plan Seal of recognition, which identifies higher education institutions with strong action plans to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement by promoting civic learning, political engagement and college student voter participation. Action plan strength is determined by reviewing campus action plans with the Strengthening American Democracy Action Planning Rubric.

Among UIC’s various efforts are annual events, such as Constitution Day, National Voter Registration Day, the National Student Issues Convention and the Future of Chicago Speaker Series, which afford students, staff and faculty the opportunity for democratic engagement throughout the year.

UIC serves as a City of Chicago voting site, and thousands of students cast their ballots on campus each election cycle. Before the Nov. 8 election, UIC transitioned from being a university early voting site with three days of voting to be the primary early voting site for Chicago’s 34th Ward.

Among units at UIC that lead the university’s civic engagement efforts are UIC Government Relations and Advocacy, the UIC Alumni Association, Student Leadership and Civic Engagement, and the Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement.

“The research is clear: colleges and universities that make intentional efforts to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement have higher campus voter registration and voter turnout rates. Despite ongoing obstacles, these campuses have remained dedicated in their commitment to ensuring that their students are informed and confident voters,” said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.

Last year, UIC earned its third Voter Friendly Campus designation from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, the national organization of student affairs administrators in higher education, and the Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project. In 2020, Washington Monthly magazine named UIC one of the nation’s best universities for student voting.

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a national nonpartisan initiative of the nonprofit Civic Nation, currently engages over 9 million students from more than 950 institutions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.