Marywood Named a Voter Friendly Campus

Marywood University was recently named a Voter Friendly Campus, one of 258 campuses in 38 states and the District of Columbia, by Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project and NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education as part of the nationwide Voter Friendly Campus initiative.

The initiative recognizes institutions that have planned and implemented practices that encouraged their students to register and vote in the recent 2022 elections, along with a stated commitment to continue to foster and promote good voting habits for years to come. Those institutions designated Voter Friendly Campuses represent a wide range of two-year, four-year, public, private, rural, and urban campuses, collectively serving over 3.5 million students.

“As part of our ongoing efforts as a designated Voter Friendly Campus, Marywood continues to promote civic engagement every year, not just during major election years,” said Kevin Farrell, director of student engagement at Marywood University. “With our Pacers to the Polls initiative, as well as our participation in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, the university has made a strong statement about its civic mission to prepare students to be engaged participants in our democracy, and we are
eager to continue engaging students throughout 2023, 2024, and beyond.”

Pacers to the Polls is Marywood’s nonpartisan campaign focused on increasing voter registration, preparedness, and turnout among students. Many different events and initiatives take place throughout the year as part of this campaign, and they are led and managed by a task force of students, staff, and faculty members. The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge strives to change civic culture an institutionalize democratic engagement activities and programs on college campuses, making them a defining feature of campus life.

The mission of the 2023 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. Marywood was evaluated based on a written plan detailing how the university registered, educated, and turned out student voters in 2022, how it facilitated voter engagement efforts on campus, and by providing a final analysis of its efforts.