• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Civic Ed>
  3. civic engagement>

How collegiate civic ed should adjust for a fall semester like no other

Jennifer Domagal-Goldman
May 06, 2020
Columbia University

Even if college campuses, like Columbia University in New York, remain empty in the fall, there is much schools can do to help students maintain their civic engagement, writes Domagal-Goldman.

Rob Kim/Getty Imges

Domagal-Goldman is executive director of the All In Campus Democracy Challenge, which works to boost college students' civic learning and voter participation. civic engagement and political participation.


These days, my life is just a little bit different — as are all of ours. My commute entails settling in at my dining table with a cup of coffee and hopping on a Zoom call with my team. Then I pause to check on my first-grader's own virtual class meeting, before considering how best to help campuses and college students pivot their nonpartisan civic learning, political engagement and voter participation work.

While acknowledging my privilege in having a job that keeps me safely at home with my family amid this coronavirus outbreak, I also worry about how best to prioritize the health of our democracy amid our very real concerns about the health of each of us.

With colleges and universities enacting drastic changes to protect their campus communities from Covid-19, the old plans and strategies to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement on campus this year won't necessarily be as effective. Our plans, as individuals and institutions of higher education, must now account for the fact that this fall semester may not look like a traditional fall semester.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

In fact, some campuses have already announced that online classes may continue when the new academic year starts. Campuses are adjusting and planning for what new-student orientation and other campus traditions will look like this spring, summer and fall. It's vital that planning happens right away so that democratic engagement can be implemented — especially if campuses remain partially or fully online in the crucial final weeks before Election Day.

Here are four actions individuals can take, and four more schools can take, to assure vigorous democratic participation this campaign season in light or our new, highly virtual realities:

Complete the census. It takes less than five minutes to fill in the form online. The Census Bureau has told college students they should complete the census as if they were still living at their address on or off campus.

Monitor election changes. Many nonprofits including Democracy Works, Rock the Vote, and We Can Vote have created state-specific election update sites that college students can use to navigate to state websites that track possible changes to registration deadlines, absentee ballot request deadlines, primary election days and more.

Request a ballot. The best way to simultaneously practice physical distancing and civic engagement is by voting by mail. The League of Women Voters has this site for looking up your state's absentee ballot process and other state voting information. Each state's election agency has the most current information about its elections — and many timelines and requirements are in flux right now.

Vote early. If you cannot vote absentee by mail but your state has early in-person voting, take advantage of that. This reduces the number of people voting on Election Day, making the process faster and safer for everyone. Check here to see if and when your state has early voting.

Join our effort. Schools that take the All In Campus Democracy Challenge commit to increasing nonpartisan democratic engagement, develop action plans, access campus-specific registration and turnout data, and connect with state and local partners. Higher education institutions are a trusted source of information for students and need to communicate with them before elections, especially during a time of rapid upheaval like we're experiencing with Covid-19.

Take this pledge. College and university leaders should commit their institutions to actively work toward the goal of full student voter participation of eligible students in the 2020 election. They can do so by signing on to the Higher Education Presidents' Commitment for Full Student Voter Participation.

Embrace this model. Ask Every Student is a great way for campuses to integrate person-to-person voter registration into existing processes like new-student orientation or classes that reach every student — and be prepared to adapt these online if needed.

Access resources. We have compiled this evolving list of resources to stay up-to-date on election changes and implement new and innovative democratic engagement approaches.

So much about our lives has already changed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Now our approach to democratic engagement and student voter participation must also change to meet the needs of this new reality.

There are so many organizations and resources that can support campuses, whether it's their first time creating a democratic engagement action plan or they have deeply institutionalized cultures of engagement on campus. Colleges and universities are uniquely positioned to help increase the health of our democracy while also protecting the health of our communities.

Though the world can seem distant and we can feel disconnected from it, our civic duties are as important as — if not more important than — ever. In time, I will return to an office outside of my own dining room, as will many of you. Until then, there is work we can all do to make sure we are still prepared and working toward higher levels of democratic engagement. We are not actually as distant as we may seem and we can face this new set of challenges together.

From Your Site Articles
  • Capitol Hill interns especially vulnerable as DC shuts down - The ... ›
  • All in Campus Democracy Challenge - The Fulcrum ›
  • Don't let the virus hurt democracy: Invest in young voters. - The ... ›
  • Virus threatens a long-anticipated surge in student voting - The ... ›
  • Podcast: Civic learning amid the culture wars - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • If you're a college student affected by coronavirus or the parent of ... ›
  • How college students are coping with the coronavirus - Business ... ›
  • 10 Ways College Students Can Navigate the Coronavirus Outbreak ... ›
  • 'I'm in High School Again': Virus Sends College Students Home to ... ›
civic engagement

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Confirm that you are not a bot.
×
Follow
Contributors

Hypocrisy of pro-lifers being anti-LGBTQIA

Steve Corbin

A dangerous loss of trust

William Natbony

Shifting the narrative on homelessness in America

David L. Nevins

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber
latest News

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Our Staff
8h

Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

David Butler
8h

Three practical presidential pledges to promote national prosperity

James-Christian B. Blockwood
31 May

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Justin Roebuck

Mia Minkin
31 May

Podcast: Why Is Congressional Oversight Important, and How Can It Be Done Well? (with Elise Bean)

Kevin R. Kosar
Elise J. Bean
30 May

Chipping away at election integrity: Virginia joins red state exodus from ERIC

David J. Toscano
30 May
Videos

Video: Why music? Why now?

David L. Nevins

Video: Honoring Memorial Day

Our Staff

Video: #ListenFirst Friday YOUnify & CPL

Our Staff

Video: What is the toll of racial violence on Black lives?

Our Staff

Video: What's next for migrants seeking asylum after Title 42

Our Staff

Video: An inside look at the campaign to repeal Pennsylvania’s closed primaries

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Our Staff
8h

Podcast: AI revolution: Disaster or great leap forward?

Our Staff
25 May

Podcast: Can we fix America's financial crises?

Our Staff
23 May

Podcast: Gen Z's fight for democracy

Our Staff
22 May
Recommended
Video: Why music? Why now?

Video: Why music? Why now?

Big Picture
Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Technology
Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

Budgeting
Three practical presidential pledges to promote national prosperity

Three practical presidential pledges to promote national prosperity

Big Picture
Meet the Faces of Democracy: Justin Roebuck

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Justin Roebuck

State
Podcast: Why Is Congressional Oversight Important, and How Can It Be Done Well? (with Elise Bean)

Podcast: Why Is Congressional Oversight Important, and How Can It Be Done Well? (with Elise Bean)

Test Unlisted