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The University maintains a historic legacy of voter advocacy and civic engagement.

Emma Di Pace, ’21, got involved with 91ֱ��’s civic engagement and voter advocacy initiative, in March 2020—or, as she described it, “literally the day before everything shut down” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Around the same time, Christian Jesús Camacho, ’21, became a student advocate with La 91ֱ�� Votes! He wondered, internally and aloud, how La 91ֱ�� could maintain its legacy and build on its reputation as a voter-friendly campus.

Amid a pandemic, promotion of voter commitment “seemed impossible,” he said.

Five months after the 2020 election, 91ֱ�� has for 2021-22, according to nonpartisan organizations NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and the . This marks the third iteration of the Voter-Friendly Campus Program; in each, 91ֱ�� has been recognized.

“I am delighted that La 91ֱ�� has been recognized for its commitment to active citizenship,” said Regina Gauss Kosiek, director of university ministry. “At La 91ֱ��, we foster a culture of engagement and encourage our students’ dedication to strengthening our democracy. Civic activism is an important piece of the La 91ֱ�� tradition. Finding ways to continue that tradition in light of COVID was a challenge, but the faculty, staff and students of La 91ֱ�� Votes used their enthusiasm and creativity to reach students wherever they were with information and programs about the 2020 election cycle.”

Virtual programming and grassroots efforts helped La 91ֱ��’s community register to vote, apply for absentee or mail-in ballots, and disseminate critical information about the electoral process.

The La 91ֱ�� Votes! initiative—a collaboration between University faculty, staff, and students—spread voting awareness and resources months prior to the November 2020 election. The group organized Zoom conversations about racial justice and voting and discussions analyzing the intersection of politics and media coverage. La 91ֱ�� Votes! helped promote a keynote with foreign affairs columnist with the Philadelphia Inquirer. The group also gathered seven La 91ֱ�� alumni who hold elected office in the U.S. and Pennsylvania Houses of Representatives for

Their efforts contributed to the voter-friendly campus recognition from NASPA and the Campus Vote Project. It’s the latest in a series of civic-engagement designations for La 91ֱ��, which includes a gold seal from the for student-voting rates that exceed the national average.

“COVID-19 presented a formidable challenge to conducting voter registration drives, engaging in issues education, and getting out the vote with so many people living and learning off campus,” said Tara Carr-Lemke, assistant director of the university’s De La 91ֱ�� Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning. “How could we replace tabling opportunities, voting booth simulations, and van runs on election day itself to get people to the polls? Yet La 91ֱ�� students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners collaborated to overcome these obstacles and imagine new ways to drive engagement.”

Olivia Potok, ’21, like Di Pace and Camacho, maintained a role with La 91ֱ�� Votes! The Philadelphia native and communication major said the experience opened her eyes to her classmates’ willingness to educate themselves and “get their hands dirty” working with social justice causes.

“Working with La 91ֱ�� Votes! made me realize how earnest and committed to social change the La 91ֱ�� student body is,” Potok said.

For young people, Di Pace said, it can be difficult to learn about their role in the voting process. “I wanted to help make this information accessible to our La 91ֱ�� community,” said the Lancaster native who double-majored in Spanish and religion and theology.

“Our impact on the Lasallian mission lives on,” said Camacho, a Philadelphia native and political science major.

—Christopher A. Vito