Barry University has been awarded a gold seal for achieving a relatively high student-voting rate in the midterm elections of 2018.
At an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on November 12, the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge recognized Barry and other universities for excellence in student voter engagement. Recipients of the gold seal achieved a student-voting rate of 40–49%.
The student-voting rate for Barry increased from 29.5% in the midterm elections of 2014 to 42.6% in 2018. Barry’s voting rate was higher than the average voting rate of 39.1% for all U.S. colleges and universities in 2018.
“We are excited to honor Barry University with an ALL IN Challenge gold seal in recognition of their intentional efforts to increase democratic engagement and full voter participation,” said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “More institutions like Barry are changing culture on campus by institutionalizing nonpartisan democratic engagement efforts that are resulting in the incredible student voter turnout rates that we’ve seen across the country.”
Tufts University’s National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) found an almost 21 percentage-point increase in the voting rate of registered Barry students – from 39.9% in 2014 to 60.8% in 2018. NSLVE further found that college students across the United States more than doubled their rate of voting from the 2014 to the 2018 midterms.
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a nonpartisan, national initiative recognizing and supporting campuses as they work to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement and full student voter participation. 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.
Over 560 colleges and universities, enrolling more than 6.2 million students, have joined the Challenge since its launch in summer 2016.
Institutions received digital seals for the following voting rates: platinum: 50%+, gold: 40–49%, silver: 30–39%, and bronze: 20–29%.
Barry promotes student voter registration and engagement through the Campus Democracy Project.