CMSI Supports SLSV with Democratic Engagement and Action Planning at MSIs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Natalie Passov | natalie.passov@gse.rutgers.edu | 848-932-0728
New Brunswick, N.J., August 22, 2022—The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) has partnered with the Students Learn Students Vote (SLSV) Coalition’s National Program Coordination Subcommittee to promote democratic engagement and action planning at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs).
The last four years have seen an extraordinary boost in student participation in U.S. elections. In 2018, 40% of student voters turned out for the U.S. midterm elections - more than double the 19% who participated in the 2014 midterms. Then, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted virtually all aspects of our society.
Despite the enormous obstacles, student voters showed up, as campuses, with support from nonprofit coalition partners, sought creative ways to reach students digitally in order to ensure they could register and turn out to vote. The national student voting rate rose to a record-breaking 66% – a 14-percentage point increase over 2016, which doubled the general population’s 7-point increase in turnout.
In order to continue this momentum, the SLSV National Program Coordination Subcommittee, co-led by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, the Fair Election Center’s Campus Vote Project, and Student PIRGs will be hosting Campus Action Planning workshops this fall to aid campus democratic engagement efforts across all colleges and universities. Led by experts across the student vote space, these workshops can help any campus stakeholder, regardless of experience, start their action plan or advance an existing plan to turn out student voters.
Workshops will take place from August through October and will vary in complexity with “101,” “201,” and “301” sessions offered. Action Planning 101 will serve as an introduction to democratic engagement action plans, Action Planning 201 will share tools, resources, and support to develop a democratic engagement plan, and Action Planning 301 will focus on getting action plans to reach every student.
In addition to amplifying the action planning workshops to MSIs, CMSI will sponsor two episodes of the Varying Viewpoints podcast series and host a Twitter Chat that will share tips for action planning and how to effectively bring democratic engagement to MSI campuses.
Register for the action planning workshops here and be sure to join us on Twitter (@CenterforMSIs) on Wednesday, August 31 at 2 p.m. ET as we talk about how action planning has supported campus civic engagement efforts and how MSIs can get involved.
About the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions
The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) brings together researchers and practitioners from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions. CMSI’s goals include: elevating the educational contributions of MSIs; ensuring that they are a part of national conversations; bringing awareness to the vital role MSIs play in the nation’s economic development; increasing the rigorous scholarship of MSIs; connecting MSIs’ academic and administrative leadership to promote reform initiatives; and strengthening efforts to close educational achievement gaps among disadvantaged communities. The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions is part of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity and Justice (Proctor Institute) at the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. For further information about CMSI, please visit http://cmsi.gse.rutgers.edu/.
About the National Program Coordination Subcommittee
Led by the Fair Election Center’s Campus Vote Project, ALL IN Democracy Challenge, Student PIRGs, and the SLSV Coalition, the National Program Coordination Subcommittee is a space for national, state and local partners to facilitate collaboration opportunities, centralize resources, and scale impact across the student vote space.
About the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition
The Students Learn Students Vote Coalition is the national hub and largest nonpartisan network in the United States dedicated to increasing college student voter participation. The Coalition convenes and connects partners, campuses, and students with each other and with resources and programming towards achieving a vision of ensuring that every student has easy and equal access to participate in every election. They use data, relationships, celebration, and easy-to-follow planning structures, to help campus and local leaders register and turnout more student voters every year. The SLSV Coalition is a project of NEO Philanthropy. NEO Philanthropy is strictly nonpartisan, and does not support or oppose any candidate or party. For more, visit https://slsvcoalition.org.
