At St. Olaf College freshman Bethany Burt spent hours this fall immersing herself in the community and engaging with voting resources in preparation for what was shaping up to be a historic presidential election.
At the private liberal arts college, about an hour south of Minneapolis, there was a conscious effort from the college to connect students with the democratic process. Local candidates and other guest speakers were brought onto the campus to discuss issues and the voting process, and students were encouraged to attend events on and off campus like a local women’s march in Northfield, Minn. on Nov. 2.
The college also offered in-person voting for students registered to vote in Minnesota, and planned events for students to decompress and discuss the election results in a safe environment on campus.
Amid an increasingly hostile political climate and Election Day approaching, college campuses across America chose the best ways to prepare their students for the election and voting. Schools like St. Olaf College prioritized events and shared information with their students for months before the election. Despite federal requirements and an increase in voter registration data suggesting that students are interested in voting, schools shied away from promoting the election altogether, leaving no space for discussing what was at stake in the election on their campus.
“The school didn’t tell us where to vote, or who to vote for. They just wanted us to vote,” Burt said.
With St. Olaf College having an energetic approach to the election, there seemed to be a link between higher voter registration numbers in Dakota County, where the college falls, and
the amount of information being spread around the college. Data from the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simons reveals that 292,674 of the 3,685,666 registered voters in Minnesota counties were from Dakota County as of Nov. 1.
“There was a lot of information on campus and sometimes it felt shoved in my face but I would rather be informed than not,” Burt said.
604 miles away, students at Friends University in Wichita, Kan. received little to no information about the election. Friends University freshman Regan Linnebach explained that her friend group would openly discuss the election on campus but it didn’t seem like anyone else would.
“They are shying away from the election and it feels like they do not want to cause a rift in the community, especially being in Kansas,” Linnebach said.
According to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, there was an 11.88% increase in the number of youth (ages 18-29) registered to vote in Kansas according to data as of late Oct., compared to the number registered on Election Day 2020.
Linnebach said that she was frustrated and disappointed with the lack of election resources and the fact she couldn’t vote on her campus. “I understand why campuses are hesitant but we are living in history so we should be a part of it,” Linnebach said.
At Johnson County Community College, also in Kansas, student Trey Downs said his school did provide a handful of resources and knowledge for students. “They have had guest speakers on campus and in most of my classes we looked at polling maps and data,” Downs said.
Johnson County Community College only makes up for a fraction of the 478,877 registered voters in Johnson County but Downs expressed that the college made his vote feel like more than just a number. “Everyone is trying to gain knowledge here and my college has done a great job with providing resources for all students,” Downs said.
In April 2022, the U.S. Department of Education issued a “Dear Colleague” letter to campuses to remind them that the 1998 Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 mandates that they engage in certain voter registration activities during years when their state is holding elections for federal office, governor, or other chief executives (U.S. Department of Education 2022).
Although the Department of Education recommends that providing students with voting resources is an “important lesson” for college students, not every college in America chooses to discuss elections.
Samantha Woods, a freshman at Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga. has also explained that, aside from a small paper with a QR code linked to registration information, there was essentially no election-related information on campus. “There have been no posters and no events on campus,” Woods said.
Woods said that it felt like her school, which was in a battleground state, didn’t want to be political, therefore they didn’t provide students with resources or voting locations on campus. However, in a study done by Cantoni Enrico in 2016, it was revealed that people who live closer to polling locations vote at higher rates which would be beneficial to college students.
“I think more information would have helped students, it felt like there was not a lot of passion or energy to get students to vote,” Woods said.
