Sauk Valley Community College gains national recognition for student voting challenge

DIXON — Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon was recognized for its efforts to increase voting participation among its students.

On Tuesday, the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge recognized SVCC as a 2024 ALL IN Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting. SVCC was one of 471 colleges and universities recognized by ALL IN for its efforts to increase nonpartisan student voter participation.

The ALL IN challenge is a program providing universities structure and support to improve nonpartisan student civic engagement, voter participation and political involvement among their students.

SVCC’s Vice President of Academics and Student Services Jon Mandrell said increasing voter participation is a core part of the mission at SVCC, especially among students.

“For the past six years, we joined the All-In Campus Democracy Challenge, which is a national initiative to drive voter registration and participation,” Mandrell said. “As part, we drafted an action plan that engaged our student body and was driven by Student Government Association. Our plan included voter registration drives, increased marketing and announcements, commercials by Student Government, and hosting several forums on election topics. These activities not only encourage informed participation but also instill a strong sense of civic responsibility among students.”

There are 10.8 million students from more than 1,075 institutions nationwide currently involved in the challenge. Schools recognized by ALL IN completed four core actions:

• Colleges must have participated in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.
• Shared their 2022 NSLVE Reports along with campus voting data with ALL IN.
• Must be developing a 2024 democratic engagement action plan to submit to ALL IN.
• Must have a current signatory to ALL IN’s Higher Education Presidents’ Commitment to Full Student Voter Participation.

“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,” ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge Executive Director Jennifer Domagal-Goldman said in a news release. “This year, we saw more colleges than ever before step up their efforts to ensure that their students were registered and ready to make their voices heard at the ballot box. These Most Engaged Campuses are setting the standard for nonpartisan civic engagement work for colleges and universities across the country.”