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This year, AGF is celebrating ten years of impact with the Andrew Goodman Vote Everywhere Program. As we reflect on how the program has grown, the Campus Team at The University of Louisville reflected on the past nine years and their hopes for the future of civic engagement on the campus in Louisville, Kentucky. 

The University of Louisville has been an Andrew Goodman Vote Everywhere campus since 2015! What barriers to voting existed on campus prior to 2015?

Prior to 2015, we had no staff dedicated to civic engagement and voter education. The Director of Student Involvement at the time had a personal passion for voter registration and voter education and strived for the Voter Friendly Designation for UofL’s campus, but it was a small portion of her very large role at the university. The onus was mainly on students to find most information regarding early voting opportunities, absentee ballots, and researching who was on their ballot.

From what you know of how things were in 2015, when it comes to voting and civic engagement on campus, what are some of the most noticeable changes?

Historically, it was Director of Student Involvement’s role to educate students about voting. Then, with AGF support, we were able to have student Andrew Goodman Ambassadors who were able to dedicate much more time to direct student engagement through programming, social media presence, and advocacy. The Ambassadors were linked to the service branch of the Student Government Association (SGA) and gained a lot of support from various other branches of SGA and other registered student organizations.

Since 2015, our ambassadors have worked with university administration to make sure they are aware of the importance to register students to be voters, worked with the Office of Admissions since 2016 to send out notifications on student’s 18th birthdays to make them aware of their ability to vote, got involved in NSLVE in 2018 to begin receiving data about voter turnout, and got the mailing room in 2024 to change their policy to notify students of the arrival of their absentee ballots. We have also seen increased engagement from University Athletics which has led to higher rates of voter registration amongst student athletes. We have also seen decreased engagement from majority political groups but an increase in engagement from student organisations that are focused on single issues such as immigrant and refugee rights, reproductive freedom, public education, racial and social justice, and healthcare access.

How has the general campus’ perception of voting and civic engagement evolved since 2015?

As mentioned before, we have noticed our traditionally affiliated political groups are less engaged now (such as Young Republicans and Young Democrats). We are seeing other issue-based registered student organizations, such as the United Nations Association – Women, UofL Students for Justice in Palestine, and Cards for Reproductive Freedom, become incredibly engaged on campus. Since the 2016 election, we have seen this generation of students care deeply about civic engagement and recognize the importance of making their voices heard. With the continued growth of social media, students now have access to more information than ever before. They have agency and can share their thoughts and advocate for their beliefs to reach a wide audience.

How has your Campus Team reflected on the legacy of Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Freedom Summer 1964 over these nine years?

We believe honoring the legacy of Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, and Michael Schwerner is a major part of our mission of voter education on campus. We believe that their martyrdom emboldens us to fight for the rights of all citizens and pushes us to encourage students to vote because it is such a hard-fought privilege to do so. We showed the “Neshoba: The Price of Freedom” movie during our National Voter Education Week to show students the history of the Andrew Goodman Foundation and to give them the real history of why we do what we do. We are also hoping to one day do an Alternative Service Break in the Southern United States and visit sites important to the Civil Rights Movement and Freedom Summer.

What are some ways that the Andrew Goodman Vote Everywhere program has supported your efforts on campus to increase voter and civic engagement?

The funding and consistent support allows our program to thrive! We wouldn’t be able to do our programming without AGF. Because of the Andrew Goodman Vote Everywhere program, we have been able to host these events and more:

• Minds at Work CardTalk Series: our UofL version of TedTalks that presented presentations on issues such as voter disenfranchisement, voter restoration, ballot measures, how voting affects individuals, AI algorithms, campaign influencing tactics, and more!
• National Voter Registration Day: annual celebration across campus with voter registration and mobilization efforts
• National Voter Education Week: events each day of NVEW promoting voter registration, knowledge of the ballot, voting history, canvassing local neighborhoods, and more!
• Roll to the Polls: fully funded shuttles to provide transportation to students who opt to vote early
• President to sign the ALL IN Presidential Commitment to Full Student Voter Participation in 2024

Our Program Manager, Caroline, continues to notify our team with any updates on and ideas for programming, gives us resources for tabling, and advocates for our campus’ work. The Andrew Goodman Foundation has put an energy behind civic engagement and voter education on our campus. This is such a meaningful program, and we are so thankful to be part of it!

What are your hopes and dreams for what civic engagement will look like on campus four years from now?

One of our dreams is to build a Civic Engagement Coalition with representatives from our Student Government Association, undergraduate student councils, graduate student councils, politically-engaged registered student organizations, staff, faculty, and community members. Our goal is to create a coordinated, collaborative effort across our campus and community for civic engagement. In four years, we would like to have a coalition of at least 10 active members who meet at least twice a semester to talk about plans, programming, and events so that none of us are duplicating work but supporting one another in the work. We would also love to see Vote Everywhere engage students in on-campus elections to promote their voices being heard right here on campus as well as across the nation. The Director of Student Involvement would love to see the ambassadors involved in homecoming and student government elections as a way to educate students about the process and importance of voting in local and national elections.

What are the team’s main goals to increase and support voter engagement and turnout in 2024?

• Plan and coordinate 15 events throughout the Fall semester to give students across campus the opportunity to register to vote, understand the issues on the ballot, serve their community, and stay civically engaged.
  • Events planned (23+)
    • 8/15-17/24: Welcome Week Tabling, 3 events
    • 9/10/24: Tabling with Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.
    • 9/11/24: Tabling with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
    • 9/17/24: National Voter Registration Day
    • 9/19/24: Tabling for Commuter and Transfer students
    • 9/23-26/24: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Ready for Success Week, 4 events
    • 9/24/24: Stroll to the Polls with NPHC
    • 10/7-11/24: National Voter Education Week, 5 events
    • 10/21/24: Town Hall with local representatives
    • 10/29/24: Vote Early Day Tabling
    • 10/30/24: Don’t Wing It! Make a Plan to Vote! Tabling
    • 11/1/24: Roll to the Polls- shuttles to early voting site
    • 11/4/24: Rock the Vote Party
    • 11/8/24: Post-Election Reflection Sessions to Process Emotions
  • President to sign ALL IN Presidential Commitment to Full Student Voter Participation
  • 100 student voter registrations
  • 100 student turnouts for early voting at Roll to the Polls event

We also have goals for spring 2025 to continue to provide civic education and engagement opportunities for students. Our plan is to have 3 signature events with a local, state, and national focus on civic engagement.

• Local: Service opportunity in the West End of Louisville with local representatives and residents
• State: Advocacy day in Frankfort, KY during the legislative session to show students what advocacy looks like
• National: Alternative Service Break to Washington DC for students to meet with their representatives, visit national museums, and serve local non-profit organizations

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

We are specifically very thankful for AGF’s support of our student leaders. The way Caroline reaches out to and check in on our Ambassadors helps them feel supported and encourages them to continue doing good work. The AGF Vote Everywhere program gave our service branch of SGA an avenue to think about non-partisan political involvement and broadened our campus’ horizons to what involvement and service can look like across the civic spectrum. AGF has added an incredible amount to what we offered prior to 2015 and with their continued support it can only grow from here!

Stay tuned as we continue our Campus Connections series, featuring each of our Andrew Goodman Vote Everywhere Campus Teams, the impact made on campus, and how they are living the legacy during this pivotal point in our nation’s history.