UNC Pembroke was one of 184 campuses awarded the Silver Seal for Excellence in Student Voter Engagement at the 2021 ALL IN Awards.

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge hosts a national awards program that honors colleges and universities for excellence in student democratic engagement through their annual ALL IN Awards. Recognition is given to campuses with an average voter participation rate of 50% or higher.

The Silver Seal was awarded to campuses with a voter participation rate between 60-69%. UNCP had a voting rate of 67.3% in the 2020 presidential election, which is above the national average and represents a 17.5% from UNCP's 2016 presidential election campus voting rate.

Director of Community and Civic Engagement Christie Poteet is celebrating the recognition of the continued improvement of democratic engagement on campus and setting high goals for future years.

"We have put a lot of work into educating students about the importance of civic and democratic engagement and seeing an increase in the number of active student voters should be celebrated," Poteet said. "However, our work doesn't stop here. Our goals are set high, and we will continue our efforts to educate and mobilize students through active and engaged citizenship."

The increase in voting engagement on campus directly reflects the installation of UNCP Votes, the campus’ voter coalition. The coalition was established as part of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge and aims to increase voter education, registration and mobilization through campus initiatives.

Joseph Brinkley, student service leader for citizenship in Community and Civic Engagement, played a pivotal role in helping develop engagement plans for increasing voter participation in the 2020 presidential election.

"We faced many struggles during 2020 with providing engaging content for students during COVID-19, and I am ecstatic to see that we were successful and that all of our efforts translated into a sizable impact," Brinkley said.

Brinkley shared the many efforts that resulted in the success and ultimately the recognition of outstanding performance. These efforts included: over 4,000 individual phone calls; campuswide emails; faculty and staff support; voter shuttles to the polls; social media posts, including two challenges; almost 30 class/student group presentations; and high-profile partnerships with Housing and Residence Life and New Student Programs.

Dalton Hoffer, the founding advisor of the UNCP Votes Coalition, says he is proud of the group's work and their commitment to outreach education about the importance of voting and providing access to the polls.  

"I'm continuously proud of the students who take on the task of getting their peers registered to vote, educated on the important topics of each election, and mobilizing them to get to the polls on election day," Hoffer said.

"I believe it's students like Joseph Brinkley who provide the leadership needed for UNCP Votes to thrive and make a lasting impact on campus."

The challenge was established in 2016 to encourage higher education institutions to promote student democratic engagement and student participation in elections. To participate in the challenge, campuses must institute a campuswide voting coalition, develop and implement an action plan to increase student voting rates, and participate in the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE). UNCP has been a part of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge since 2017.

UNCP's 2020 NSLVE report showed an increase from 2016 voting rates across all races/ethnicities, age groups, education levels, undergraduate class years and nearly all fields of study.

To get involved with UNCP Votes, learn more about voting, access voting guides or find additional resources, visit serve.uncp.edu/uncpvotes.