Galloway, NJ – Stockton University has received a bronze level seal from the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge for its efforts to increase student voting.

The first-ever ALL IN Challenge Awards Ceremony, held in October, recognized colleges and universities committed to increasing college student voting rates. Stockton received a bronze seal for achieving a student voting rate between 50% and 59%.

Student participation in elections has increased in the past few years. A recent report, “Democracy Counts: A Report on U.S. College and University Student Voting” from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, (NSLVE) an initiative of Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy in Higher Education, shows that between the 2012 presidential election, and the 2016 presidential election, student voting went from 45.1% of eligible voters in 2012 to 48.3% in 2016 – a 7% improvement.

Stockton’s voting rate exceeded the national level, according to the NSLVE report, which showed the voting rate of all students rose from 45 percent 2012 to 53 percent in 2016. In 2016, 79 percent of Stockton students were registered to vote, up from 74 percent in 2012. The percentage of registered Stockton students who actually voted increased from 60 percent in 2012 to 67 percent in 2016.

Stockton’s voter registration efforts are a component of the campus American Democracy Project and Political Engagement Project chaired by Assistant Professors of Political Science Claire Abernathy and Jennifer Forestal and Director of Service Learning Daniel Tome. Their efforts also helped Stockton earn a national American Association of State Colleges and Universities national award for Civic Learning and Community Engagement this year.

Stockton President Harvey Kesselman said Stockton was founded on the principles of civic learning and community engagement. He credited the faculty and staff for their ongoing commitment to the University’s mission of developing engaged and effective citizens.

 “I am proud to honor Stockton University with an ALL IN Challenge bronze seal in recognition of their dedication, hard work, and achievement,” said Zaneeta E. Daver, director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “Stockton is not only ensuring that a more representative population participates in our nation’s democracy, but is educating students to be civic-minded. They are an example to be emulated.”

 The All IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a national awards program. The Challenge encourages higher education institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship, and make democratic participation a core value on their campus. By joining the Challenge, campuses commit to:

• Conveninga campus-wide committee that includes members from academic affairs, student affairs, and the student body, as well as any other relevant stakeholders;
• Developing and implementingan action plan to improve democratic engagement;
• Participatingin the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) in order to measure student voting rates; and
• Sharing their campus’ action plan and NSLVE results in order to be eligible for a recognition seal and/or awards.

 More than 300 campuses, enrolling more than 4 million students, have joined the Challenge since its launch in summer 2016.

Contact: 
Diane D’Amico
Director of News and Media Relations
Galloway, N.J. 08205
Diane.D’Amico@Stockton.edu
609-652-4593
stockton.edu/media