Dickinson Designated Voter-Friendly Campus by NASPA and Campus Vote Project
College Receives National Recognition of Ongoing Efforts to Involve Students in Democracy
by Craig Layne
Dickinson has again been named a Voter Friendly Campus by Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project and NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. The initiative recognizes institutions that have planned and implemented practices that encourage their students to register and vote. Dickinson is one of 19 campuses in Pennsylvania and among 272 campuses in 39 states and the District of Columbia to receive the designation.
The mission of the 2025 Voter Friendly Campus designation is to bolster colleges' and universities’ efforts to help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process—every year, not just during years featuring federal elections. Dickinson was evaluated based on a plan for how the college would register, educate and turn out student voters in 2024; how it facilitated voter engagement efforts on our campus; and a final analysis of its efforts.
Dickinson Votes, the college's nonpartisan voter engagement initiative, led efforts to encourage students to participate in the democratic process. The group’s ongoing work includes running information tables at campus events, training students to help peer-to-peer voter registration and celebrating student voters on Election Day. Dickinson Votes was instrumental in securing the college’s Voter Friendly Campus designation for 2023-24.
“We are tremendously proud of the hard work Dickinson Votes has put into voter education and turnout on campus,” says President John E. Jones III '77, P'11. “And we’re especially pleased to see those efforts recognized with back-to-back Voter Friendly Campus designations. Voting is foundational to our democracy, and we firmly support students’ efforts to vote and encourage their peers to join them at the polls.”
Roundtable with Young Voters
Dickinson Votes has also partnered with Ballot PA for a special event featuring Pennsylvania elected leaders in a roundtable discussion with young voters. The conversation is set for Thursday, April 17, at 6 p.m. in Althouse 106 and will be moderated by Ballot PA’s David Thornburgh. Panelists include Cumberland County Commissioner Kelly Neiderer (R); State Representative Carol Hill-Evans (D - York); State Representative Valerie Gaydos '89 (R - Allegheny); Dickinson student voter engagement coordinator Zoe Selig '27; and Swarthmore College student & co-founder of Students for Ballot PA Harry Hou.
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Published April 15, 2025