Beyond The Vote: Engaging Students In Civic Action
Posted by Forbes on August 26, 2025
When Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin started Columbia Votes in 2018, the name accurately reflected the mission: increasing student voter engagement. The challenge wasn’t voter registration – 83% of our students were already registered to vote. But in the 2016 general election, only 56% had actually voted. The challenge was instead motivating more students at Columbia College Chicago to learn about the candidates and issues, and then cast their ballots in the upcoming 2020 election.
Our solution? Using a peer-to-peer approach. Sharon hired and trained student “voter registration geniuses” to deliver a presentation to all first-year students about the power and impact voting can have on the issues they care about most. The content presented by the voter registration geniuses helped incoming students register to vote either at their campus or home addresses, provided them with nonpartisan sources of information, and assisted them with finding their polling place or obtaining their vote-by-mail ballot. And it worked. In 2020, 72% of our students voted in the general election.
More in "New Resources"
- Pathways to Impact, Volume Two
- Webinar Recordings: PCCE Professional Development Series
- Drexel after-school program combines dance, science and coding for a creative, integrated approach to learning
Stay Current in Philly's Higher Education and Nonprofit Sector
We compile a weekly email with local events, resources, national conferences, calls for proposals, grant, volunteer and job opportunities in the higher education and nonprofit sectors.
Subscribe