The Campus Engagement Election Project selected St. Thomas School of Social Work associate professor Katharine Hill to receive funding to host CEEP fellows this year to help encourage young people to vote.
CEEP is a national nonpartisan project that connects with students from colleges and universities across the nation and engages them in federal, state and local elections.
“Voting is a fundamental act of saying that you are apart of the community,” Hill said. “We want people believing in the community, believing in the future and wanting to be a part of it.”
The program helps students register, volunteer in campaigns, become educated on candidates, understand voting laws and show up at the polls.
McNeely Hall serves as the voting place for on-campus students who live on North Campus. (Kyle Manderfeld/TommieMedia)
“Asking for people to vote is a way of saying ‘I see you,’” Hill said. “It’s like saying that you are an important person and your opinion matters.”
Hill is working with St. Thomas junior Sofia Leyva, a paid student fellow, and senior Kelsey Di Bias throughout the 2018 fall semester.
According to the Pew Research Center, only about 25 percent of eligible people ages 18 to 34 have voted in midterm elections since 1978. Leyva said this turnout has to improve.
“We are the ones that are going to be affected by these policies,” she said, “so we need to be the ones that decide what we want our future to be.”
According to Di Bias, young people know what they want and what they are passionate about; however, they often do not understand the logistics behind the political structures and the voting process overall.
Their strategy for CEEP consists of three stages: registration, education and getting out to vote.
Hill, Di Bias and Leyva have offered registration materials, provided sample ballots and non-partisan information about the candidates, chalked the sidewalks and created signage to promote voting. To engage the student body directly, they showed the movie One Vote and plan to do “Dorm Storms,” where they will knock on dorm room doors and ask residents if they are registered and prepared to vote.
Given the division of the precincts, residents on North Campus vote in McNeely Hall, while residents on South Campus vote at Groveland Recreation Center. Hill said that she is in contact with the university in an effort to make voting more convenient for student residents.
The Undergraduate Student Government will be providing free bus passes to those who live south of Summit Avenue. Students can pick up these bus passes at Tommie Central in the Anderson Student Center.
“Students are my focus in my community, I am interested in getting students engaged,” Hill said. “Voting is habit, so once we get them to do it once they are likely to do it again.”
Ava Diaz can be reached at diaz7981@stthomas.edu.