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40 Andrew Goodman Campuses Receive Voter Friendly Designation

Every two years, NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education) and the Fair Election Center’s Campus Vote Project designate colleges and universities as “Voter Friendly Campuses.” In order to make the cut, institutions of higher learning are required to engage their student bodies and promote voter registration and voting as part of their institutional missions. Unlike other years, in 2020 campuses also had to successfully and quickly navigate a global pandemic, remote and hybrid learning environments, and rapidly changing election laws and procedures. The 2021-2022 cohort includes an exclusive list of 231 colleges and universities from around the country who collectively work with 3.5 million students. 

According to a press release by NASPA, the goal of the Voter Friendly Campus designation program is to bolster efforts that help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process and develop a culture of democratic engagement on campus. With a goal so similar to The Andrew Goodman Foundation’s, it is no surprise that 40 of our Andrew Goodman Campuses are also Voter Friendly Campuses. 

“We are excited to receive the Voter Friendly Campus designation again. The action planning assistance from The Andrew Goodman Foundation and the continued support of our student leaders is a huge factor for receiving this designation. We would not be able to do this work without amazing national partners like The Andrew Goodman Foundation,” says Paul Valdez, Bowling Green State University (BGSU) Andrew Goodman Campus Champion and Associate Director of BGSU’s Center for Public Impact. 

Before receiving the prestigious designation, colleges and universities participated in workshops to develop, facilitate, and report on voter engagement programs for their students. They were evaluated on their ability to write plans to engage student voters during the critical 2020 elections, the implementation of their plans on their campuses, and the analysis of their work.

Senior Program Manager – Partnership Strategist Nicole Taylor reflected on the 2020 elections and all that our network faced. “College and university support for student voters was more critical than ever in 2020. In light of a global pandemic, racial injustice, virtual learning, and more, every Andrew Goodman Campus rose above to make the ballot more accessible to students. We are proud of the campuses in our network who earned the designation of Voter Friendly Campus from NASPA and Fair Election Center’s Campus Vote Project in recognition of these triumphs and are pleased to work alongside these organizations to support the voter engagement being done by students, faculty, and staff on campuses across the country.”

The following Andrew Goodman Campuses earned the Voter Friendly Campus designation for 2021-2022:

  1. Allegheny College
  2. Arizona State University
  3. Baylor University
  4. Binghamton University
  5. Bowling Green State University
  6. Case Western Reserve University
  7. Clark Atlanta University
  8. Cornell University
  9. East Carolina University
  10. Elon University
  11. Georgia State University
  12. Iowa State University
  13. Kennesaw State University
  14. Lincoln University
  15. Marquette University
  16. Mesa Community College
  17. Miami Dade College
  18. Montclair State University
  19. North Carolina A&T State University
  20. Northampton Community College
  21. Prairie View A&M University
  22. Ramapo College of New Jersey
  23. Stony Brook University
  24. Texas Woman’s University
  25. Towson University
  26. University of Baltimore
  27. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
  28. University of Michigan – Dearborn
  29. University of Mississippi
  30. University of North Carolina – Charlotte
  31. University of Pennsylvania
  32. University of San Francisco
  33. University of South Carolina – Upstate
  34. University of Utah
  35. University of Wisconsin – La Crosse
  36. University of Wisconsin – Madison
  37. University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
  38. University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
  39. Virginia Commonwealth University
  40. Western Carolina University

About The Andrew Goodman Foundation

The Andrew Goodman Foundation’s mission is to make young voices and votes a powerful force in democracy by training the next generation of leaders, engaging young voters, and challenging restrictive voter suppression laws. The organization is named after Andrew Goodman, a Freedom Summer volunteer and champion of equality and voting rights who was murdered, alongside James Earl Chaney and Michael Schwerner, by the KKK in 1964 while registering Black Americans to vote in Mississippi. To learn more, visit www.andrewgoodman.org.

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