Belmont University earned the inaugural ALL IN Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting recognition. This program recognizes participating institutions that worked to increase nonpartisan student voter registration, education and turnout and ensure equitable access to the polls for their campuses.
In 2020, Belmont earned the Gold Seal from ALL IN for having seventy-nine percent voter participation, and has since been acknowledged on multiple accounts for notable voting-related activity.
The Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting is part of ALL IN’s mission to advance voting efforts on college and university campuses across the country. The recognition distinguishes the involvement of senior leadership on college campuses and requires an executive team representative to sign the Higher Education Presidents’ Commitment to Full Student Voter Participation. Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost David Gregory signed for Belmont, earning the University “Most Engaged Campus” status.
“Trying to help increase college student voter participation has been a huge push, nationwide,” Assistant Director of Student Engagement Derian Hamblin said. “Just recognizing how important young voters are and how much they need to make their voices heard through the voting process is what we are trying to do.”
Spearheaded by the Student Government Association (SGA), ALL IN’s “Most Engaged Campus” recognition acknowledges the substantial efforts Belmont has made to increase voting awareness and participation among students.
This semester, a voting resources section was added to the SGA webpage. During Voter Education Week and on National Voter Registration Day SGA provided resources to help students register to vote at ‘It Must Be Wednesday’. SGA also hosted a ‘Donut Forget to Vote’ event where they passed out donuts to students in the Beaman Student Life Center as “a sweet reminder that your vote is your voice.”
Belmont was the site for two polling places for the November midterm election – one being the Curb Event Center for District 18-2 and the Sports Science Center housing the poll station for District 18-3. The campus participates in the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE) which reports voter turnout data. Belmont’s report will be available following the finalization of November election results.
