Stevens Institute of Technology Recognized as a 2024 ALL IN Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting
Stevens Institute of Technology is one of 471 colleges and universities recognized for outstanding efforts to increase nonpartisan student voter participation in the 2024 election
Hoboken, N.J., November 19, 2024 — Today, Stevens Institute of Technology has been recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) as a 2024 ALL IN Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting. The ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting recognizes colleges and universities for outstanding efforts to increase nonpartisan student voter participation. Stevens joins a group of 471 colleges and universities recognized by ALL IN for completing four core actions:
Participating in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
Sharing 2022 National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE) Reports with campus voting data with ALL IN
Developing and submitting a 2024 democratic engagement action plan with ALL IN
Having a current signatory to ALL IN’s Higher Education Presidents’ Commitment to Full Student Voter Participation
Stevens encourages active citizenship and celebrates individual and community involvement and nonpartisan voter participation for all community members. This year’s recognition builds on earlier awards for the university, which earned a silver designation in 2018 and gold in 2020.
Central to Stevens’ efforts has been the focus of Lindsey Cormack, associate professor of political science, who revived the Stevens Diplomacy Lab and co-founded a successful student voter-registration effort. Cormack’s work resulted in the percentage of Stevens' students who voted in 2020 rising to 75% from 2016’s 51%. Registration in 2020 rose to nearly 90% from her efforts. Her actions were motivated by observing a lack of civic engagement in incoming students.
"Over a few years' time, I got a sense that some incoming students were not being taught even the basics of democracy and American government," says Cormack. "It was kind of shocking. I had always assumed our high schools were delivering civics education, but it seemed that wasn't the case."
The rise in voter participation rates for Stevens' students is encouraging as voting is habit-forming and young voters will often continue to vote in subsequent elections, according to Cormack.
“We see the rise in student participation as an extension of our commitment to empowering our students to engage in their communities as active citizens,” said Stevens President Nariman Farvardin, a signatory to ALL IN’s presidents’ commitment. “This milestone would not be possible without the support of key faculty and staff, like Professor Cormack, in furtherance of this goal. We are thrilled with this progress and will continue to support efforts to raise our participation rate.”
Key to securing this year’s recognition from ALL IN was the university’s robust voter registration plan. In addition to hosting an on-campus polling site and registration tables, a targeted communications plan leveraged collaboration with the Student Government Association (SGA), a registration feature on student engagement platform, DuckLink, and a post-ballot casting celebration, complete with ice cream.
“The research is clear: colleges and universities that make intentional efforts to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement have higher campus voter registration and voter turnout rates. This year we saw more colleges than ever before step up their efforts to ensure that their students were registered and ready to make their voices heard at the ballot box,” said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, Executive Director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “These Most Engaged Campuses are setting the standard for nonpartisan civic engagement work for colleges and universities across the country.”
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. Campuses that join the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge complete a set of action items, with the support of ALL IN staff, to institutionalize nonpartisan civic learning and voter participation on their campus. The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge currently engages 10.8 million students from more than 1,075 institutions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Campuses can join the ALL IN Challenge here.
About Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology is a premier, private research university situated in Hoboken, New Jersey. Since our founding in 1870, technological innovation has been the hallmark of Stevens’ education and research. Within the university’s three schools and one college, more than 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students collaborate closely with faculty in an interdisciplinary, student-centric, entrepreneurial environment. Academic and research programs spanning business, computing, engineering, the arts and other disciplines actively advance the frontiers of science and leverage technology to confront our most pressing global challenges. The university continues to be consistently ranked among the nation’s leaders in career services, post-graduation salaries of alumni and return on tuition investment.
About ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. Through an intentionally-designed program that provides structure, support, and recognition, ALL IN works to improve civic learning, political engagement, and voter participation on more than 1,075 campuses nationwide. ALL IN believes higher education should play a role in developing an active and informed citizenry by educating students, motivating them to engage in American democracy, and instilling the value of lifelong participation. ALL IN is an initiative of Civic Nation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Learn more here.
About Civic Nation
Civic Nation is a nonprofit ecosystem for high-impact organizing and education initiatives working to build a more inclusive and equitable America. Civic Nation shifts culture, systems, and policy by bringing together individuals, grassroots organizers, industry leaders, and influencers to tackle some of our nation’s most pressing social challenges. Civic Nation is home to seven national initiatives and campaigns: ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, Change Collective, It’s On Us, Save On Clean Energy, SAVE On Student Debt, We The Action, and When We All Vote. Learn more here.
Stevens Media Contact
Kara Panzer
Director of Public and Media Relations
Division of University Relations
845-475-4594
[email protected]