SIUE Earns a Silver Seal from the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville students, faculty and staff have been recognized among a select group of colleges and universities from across the country for their efforts to increase voter turnout during the 2020 election. SIUE has earned a silver seal from the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge for achieving 60-69% student voter participation, a feat even more remarkable given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The team worked hard, and given the election cycle it fell in, I know it was challenging at times for so many reasons,” said Carolyn Compton, assistant director of community engagement at the Kimmel Student Involvement Center. “Everyone rose to the challenge and accomplished a lot.”
The 2020 election marked SIUE’s second silver seal from the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. The University previously earned a silver seal in 2018, and a bronze seal in 2016 for achieving 50-59% student voter turnout.
Since joining the initiative in 2016, students, faculty and staff across the University have worked together to increase voter registration, promote absentee voting and provide informative, non-partisan information to students.
Student committee members for the 2020 election cycle included spring 2021 graduates Meredith Bates, Michelle Black, Bailley Concatto, Arieanna Morris and Alyxandria Smith, and senior history and political science major Ayris Bonds. Faculty and staff members joining Compton on the committee included Jennifer Erwin, PhD, assistant professor of social work; Gretchen Fricke, former director of Student Services in the School of Education, Health and Human Behavior; Sarah Kirkpatrick, assistant director for residence life; Adriana Martinez, PhD, associate professor of geography and geographic information sciences and environmental sciences; Ken Moffett, PhD, department chair and professor of political science; Laurie Rice, PhD, professor of political science; and Lacey Sonderegger, instructor of applied communication sciences.
Photo: ALL IN Campus Democracy Silver Seal.
