During the 2016 election, GW participated in the All In Challenge, committing to student civic engagement and increasing student voter rates. At the first All In Challenge Awards Ceremony, held on October 19, 2017 at the Newseum, GW was awarded a bronze seal for a student voting rate between 50% and 59%.
Student participation in elections has increased in the past few years. A recent report,
“Democracy Counts: A Report on U.S. College and University Student Voting” from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, an initiative of Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy in Higher Education, shows that between the 2012 presidential election, and the
2016 presidential election, student voting went from 45.1% of eligible voters in 2012 to 48.3%
in 2016 – a 7% improvement.
“I am proud to honor The George Washington University with an All In Challenge bronze seal in recognition of their dedication, hard work, and achievement,” said Zaneeta E. Daver, director of the All In Campus Democracy Challenge. “The George Washington University is not only ensuring that a more representative population participates in our nation’s democracy, but is educating students to be civic-minded. They are an example to be emulated.”
The All In Campus Democracy Challenge is a national awards program. The Challenge encourages higher education institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship, and make democratic participation a core value on their campus. By joining the Challenge, campuses commit to:
• Convening a campus-wide committee that includes members from academic affairs,
student affairs, and the student body, as well as any other relevant stakeholders;
• Developing and implementing an action plan to improve democratic engagement;
• Participating in the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) in
order to measure student voting rates; and
• Sharing their campus’ action plan and NSLVE results in order to be eligible for a
recognition seal and/or awards.
More than 300 campuses, enrolling more than 4 million students, have joined the Challenge
since its launch in summer 2016.
