Get Out the Vote: Elon, Queens students use design to encourage civic engagement
Posted by Queens University of Charlotte on November 17, 2026
In an age when people are bombarded with messages competing for their attention, students at Elon University and Queens University of Charlotte recently faced a challenge: How do you create something that makes people stop, take notice and, ultimately, decide to vote?
For students in the universities’ respective visual communication and graphic design programs, the answer came through a shared assignment encouraging civic engagement ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Looking to build connections between their universities, Melissa Gamez of Queens University of Charlotte and Ben Hannam of Elon University partnered on a Get Out the Vote poster exhibition promoting civic engagement.
The collaboration, which brought together students and faculty from both institutions to create nonpartisan Get Out the Vote posters, marks the School of Communications’ first academic partnership with Queens since the universities announced their intention to merge.
The initiative was sparked last spring by Melissa Gamez, associate professor of design and director of graphic design and studio art at Queens, who contacted Ben Hannam, associate professor and chair of Elon’s Department of Visual Communication, with an idea.
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