The University of Miami has been recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) as one of this year’s 2022 ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting. The University joins a group of 394 colleges and universities recognized for their outstanding and intentional efforts to increase student voter participation.
Andrew Wiemer, senior director of the William R. Butler Center for Volunteer Service and Leadership Development and the advisor of Get Out the Vote (GOTV), a student-led initiative dedicated to promoting nonpartisan civic participation and voter mobilization across campus, is excited about the designation.
“Our students are incredible young people who are also part of a group called Voter Ambassadors. They have dedicated their time in various ways, from events and programs to tabling—they really engage the campus community to get out and vote,” said Wiemer.
Since 2008, the University of Miami has continually increased its support toward civic learning and democratic engagement by building the ’Canes Vote Network, which is also spearheaded by Wiemer’s team and the Division of Student Affairs.
Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of ALL IN, said in the past six years student voter turnout has increased largely driven by student participation.
“The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is excited to expand our ALL IN Student Voting Honor Roll to recognize these student voting champions across the country,” said Domagal-Goldman. “These students registered voters, served on their campus voting coalitions, spearheaded voter education efforts, advocated for campus polling locations, and organized other voter engagement efforts to ensure their peers were confident and informed voters.”
The University is also a member of the ACC DemocrACCy Network, which brings professionals from the Atlantic Coast Conference institutions together to engage in conversations about best practices for curricular-focused initiatives, challenges, and competitions. Most recently, the University was designated a Gold Campus by ALL IN for having 70-79 percent voting rate during the 2020 presidential election.
Since 2016, the University has been designated as a Voter Friendly Campus. Wiemer said the numerous recognitions are a direct reflection of the students’ hard work.
“The Butler Center staff really enjoys helping students find a way to register to vote and ultimately get out to vote,” said Wiemer. “Being recognized again goes to show that the commitments and strategies across our campus and within the larger community is fruitful.”
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge empowers colleges and universities to accomplish distinction in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. Campuses that join the challenge complete a set of action items, with the support of ALL IN Challenge staff, to institutionalize nonpartisan civic learning, political engagement, and voter participation on their campus. The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge currently engages more than 9 million students from more than 950 institutions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
