UNCG named Voter Friendly Campus

Posted on March 09, 2021

Students stand with sign that reads
Students stand with sign that reads "UNC Greensboro VOTES; Register today to vote"
Photo taken in February 2020

UNC Greensboro has been designated as a “Voter Friendly Campus” for the third time by national nonpartisan organizations Campus Vote Project and NASPA (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators).

UNCG is one of 10 colleges and universities in North Carolina to receive this designation, and one of seven in the UNC System. UNCG joins over 200 campuses in 37 states and the District of Columbia with this designation.

The mission of the Voter Friendly Campus designation is to bolster efforts that help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process.

“At UNCG, civic engagement happens all year, every year, but this designation is a special recognition for the hard work that happens during election years,” said Kristina Gage, associate director for civic engagement. “Despite having to change our plans set in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our team was able to shift strategies and find new ways to register, educate, and motivate student voters.”

UNCG’s Office of Leadership and Civic Engagement (OLCE) led a team of student Democracy Fellows, volunteers, and campus partners to develop and carry out an election engagement plan during the fall of 2020. Even in the midst of a pandemic, over 700 students participated in OLCE’s 55 interactive, virtual Voting 101 workshops. Democracy Fellows focused on motivating students to get registered by promoting North Carolina’s new online voter registration option and several safe, outdoor voter registration stations.

245 students were directly registered with in-person forms or through UNCG’s TurboVote platform. OLCE also hosted a Walk to the Polls event in February to kick off the primary early voting period.

The Voter Friendly Campus designation program was launched in 2016 and is designed to help institutions develop plans to coordinate administrators, faculty, and student organizations in civic and electoral engagement.

For more information about the program, visit voterfriendlycampus.org.

To learn more about civic engagement on campus, visit olce.uncg.edu.

Photography by Jiyoung Park, University Communications

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