NCC Announced as 2021 ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge Award Winner
ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge honors higher education institutions, educators and students that increased their civic engagement during the 2020 elections.
Bethlehem, PA (11/12/2021) — The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge recognizes colleges and universities committed to increasing college student voting rates and civic engagement. Northampton Community College (NCC) received a 2021 Best Action Plan Award for the Pennsylvania Campus Voting Challenge and the 2020 silver seal for achieving a student voting rate between 50-70% in the 2020 election cycle. A ceremony was held virtually to honor the recipients of the awards November 8-10.
More than 840 institutions enrolling close to nine million students participate in the ALL IN Challenge. The Best Action Plan Award recognizes an institution's efforts to develop and implement a campus democratic engagement action plan to help college students to improve nonpartisan civic learning, political engagement, and voter participation. NCC's silver seal award shows that despite the COVID-19 pandemic and many students learning virtually, the college ensured they could cast their ballots.
"We are honored to receive both the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge's 2021 Best Action Plan Award and 2020 Silver Seal. These recognitions are evidence of NCC's strong commitment to engage students in nonpartisan civic learning and voter participation. We will continue to make sure that our students develop the skills, knowledge and dispositions associated with civic engagement; thereby empowering them to have their voice heard," says Stanley Ebede, director, Center for Civic and Community Engagement.
The 2020 election cycle saw unprecedented voter registration and turnout among college students, including the largest and most diverse group of college students in U.S history, according to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE), a research study of the Institute for Democracy in Higher Education (IDHE). Data provided by IDHE shows NCC saw an average voting rate of eligible students increase from by 52% in 2016 to 60% in 2020.
"The rise in voter participation and engagement for college students in last year's presidential election amidst a global pandemic was tremendous and will undoubtedly be tied to the tireless efforts of the dedicated students, faculty, administrators, and partner organizations that are part of the ALL IN Challenge network," said Jen Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. "The hard work of these trailblazing honorees will help support many of the country's future leaders in fulfilling the equitable, engaged vision of democracy to which we aspire."
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. Find more information about NCC's Center for Civic and Community Engagement mission here.
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