Campus Compact’s The Democracy Commitment Initiative announces the Engage the Election: 2018 project to advance electoral engagement on community college campuses

Campus Compact, a national non-profit organization working to advance the public purposes of higher education, has announced the 14 community college recipients of $27,000 in mini-grants. The grants will be awarded as part of Engage the Election: 2018, a project that aims to advance non-partisan electoral engagement on community college campuses.

Engage the Election: 2018 is a direct response by Campus Compact, through its newly acquired initiative, The Democracy Commitment (TDC), to the midterm elections in 2018. Its goal is to create wide-reaching electoral engagement opportunities for community college students, many of whom are first-generation, low-income, and students of color. This project, which is made possible by Young Invincibles and the Students Learn Students Vote (SLSV) coalition, is intended to produce ideas, principles, and practices for effective electoral engagement at community colleges that take into deep consideration the unique opportunities and challenges presented on community college campuses and are reflective of their special ties to the community.

The 14 community college mini-grant recipients will serve as case studies for the project, ultimately producing resources that will be useful to a broader network of campuses. In addition, the Engage the Election: 2018 project will include a variety of other tools that will be available to all 1,000+ Campus Compact member institutions, including a webinar series and a National Voter Registration Day event.

“Campus Compact is committed to full participation in our democratic republic, and community colleges are essential to achieving that mission,” said Andrew Seligsohn, president of Campus Compact. “Engage the Election is an opportunity for Campus Compact to work with member colleges to show that community colleges are democracy’s colleges–engaging students as active participants in shaping the future of their communities and our country.”

“I am excited to see what new resources for community college electoral engagement will come out this project,” said Verdis L. Robinson, Director of Community College Engagement at Campus Compact. “We are indebted to our friends at Young Invincibles and the Student Learn Students Vote coalition for this opportunity to raise the bar on community college participation in our democracy.”

“College of the Canyons is committed to helping students understand that their votes do count!” said Dr. Patty Robinson, Faculty Director of Community and Civic Engagement Initiatives at College of the Canyons in California. “The Engage the Election project will encourage students to experience participatory democracy firsthand and to recognize the importance of making their voices heard.”

“At Johnson County Community College, our mission is to inspire learning to transform lives and strengthen communities,” said Tara Karaim, Community Based Learning Coordinator at Johnson County Community College in Kansas. “This award means that we are receiving the resources to inspire learning about our community’s issues to empower our students to transform their lives through electoral engagement and consequently strengthen the community with their knowledge and action.”

Campuses were selected to receive the grant to ensure that a diverse group of community colleges were represented. The following is the full list of the Engage the Election 2018 grant recipients from Campus Compact:

Allegany College of Maryland (MD)
College of the Canyons (CA)
Delta College (MI)
Johnson County Community College (KS)
CUNY Kingsborough Community College (NY)
Kirkwood Community College (IA)
Lane Community College (OR)
Mesa Community College (AZ)
Monroe Community College (NY)
Piedmont Virginia Community College (VA)
Raritan Valley Community College (NJ)
Sante Fe College (FL)
Tarrant County College- Southeast Campus (TX)
Wilbur Wright College (IL)