Moreno Valley, Ca -Moreno Valley College was honored November 12 at the 2019 ALL IN Challenge Awards Ceremony in Washington, DC after the College increased democratic engagement and voter participation.
MVC received a Silver Seal for achieving a student rate between 30 percent and 39 percent. The ALL IN Challenge Awards are held to recognize colleges and universities committed to increasing college student voting rates. A full list of awardees can be viewed here.
“Moreno Valley College is truly honored to receive this honor and recognition,” Dyrell Foster, Ed.D, vice president, Student Services, said. “Through the intentional efforts of student leaders from the Associated Students (ASMVC), the Student Activities Office and College faculty, we have been working hard to fulfill our college mission to — inspire, challenge and empower our diverse, multicultural community of learners to realize their goals while promoting citizenship, integrity, leadership, and global awareness. We are proud of our student body for being active and engaged in American democracy.”
From 2014 to 2018, MVC saw an increase in voter participation from students 18 to 24 years of age. In 2014, 20 percent of students aged 18 to 24 voted. In 2018, 63 percent went to the polls. The College saw an increase in each of the registered age categories.
According to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, an initiative of Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy & Higher Education, voter turnout at the more than 1,000 institutions participating in the study increased by 21 points from 19 percent to 40 percent.
“We are excited to honor Moreno Valley College with an ALL IN Challenge Silver Seal in recognition of their intentional efforts to increase democratic engagement and full voter participation,” said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “More institutions like Moreno Valley College are changing culture on campus by institutionalizing nonpartisan democratic engagement efforts that are resulting in the incredible student voter turnout rates that we’ve seen across the country.”
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a nonpartisan, national initiative recognizing and supporting campuses as they work to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement and full student voter participation. The Challenge encourages higher education institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship and make democratic participation a core value on their campus.
More than 560 campuses, enrolling more than 6.2 million students, have joined the Challenge since its launch in summer 2016.
