Oct 29, 2017 2 min read

At the first-ever ALL IN Challenge Awards ceremony, California University of Pennsylvania received a Best in Class Award for having the most improved student voting rate within the four-year, medium-size public institution category.

Cal U also earned a Bronze Seal for achieving a student voting rate between 50 and 59 percent.

The ALL IN Challenge Awards recognize colleges and universities across the country that are committed to increasing college student voting rates. More than 30 awards were announced at the event, held at the Knight Conference Center at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Political science professor Dr. Melanie Blumberg, director of the campus chapter of the American Democracy Project, accepted the award on behalf of Cal U.

“California University works hard to educate our students about the candidates and the issues — and also about the importance of voting,” Blumberg said. “Research shows that if college students take part in politics, even only as voters, they are more likely to stay active in community matters throughout their lives. This award recognizes the hard work of many people who encourage our students to become active, engaged citizens.”

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.

• Sharing their campus’ action plan and NSLVE results in order to be eligible for a recognition seal and/or awards.

Nearly 300 campuses, enrolling more than 4 million students, have joined the Challenge since its launch in summer 2016.