March 29, 2023 – Santa Fe College was named a Voter Friendly Campus, one of 258 campuses in 38 states and the District of Columbia by Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project and NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. The initiative recognizes institutions that have planned and implemented practices that encourage their students to register and vote in the 2022 elections and in coming years.
The mission of the 2023 Voter Friendly Campus designation is to bolster colleges and universities’ efforts to help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process – every year, not just during years featuring federal elections. Santa Fe College was evaluated based on a written plan for how we planned to register, educate, and turnout student voters in 2022, how we facilitated voter engagement efforts on our campus, and a final analysis of our efforts.
As part of our effort to be designated a Voter Friendly Campus, we reached over 3,000 students across campus with voting resources through class visits, campus events, and online engagement. This year, the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo extended voter outreach efforts to the community by offering a discount on Zoo admission to visitors with an “I Voted” sticker.
“This designation affirms our college’s commitment to civic engagement every year, not just during major election years,” Sarah Blanc said. “Santa Fe College values civic participation and encourages lifelong voters.”
Santa Fe College has made a strong statement about our civic mission to prepare students to be engaged participants in our democracy and is eager to continue engaging students through 2023, 2024, and beyond.
The institutions designated Voter Friendly Campuses represent a wide range of two-year, four-year, public, private, rural, and urban campuses, collectively serving over 3.5 million students. Notably, the list of designated institutions includes 49 Minority Serving Institutions and 13 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as well as 41 Community Colleges.