In a time when political polarization in the United States is on the rise, an organization is working to reframe the narrative — one campus at a time.
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a national nonpartisan initiative housed under Civic Nation, is on a mission to make voting and civic participation a permanent, visible part of college life. Since its founding in 2016 by Executive Director Jennifer Domagal-Goldman and an advisory board, ALL IN has partnered with over a thousand campuses across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., reaching more than 10 million students.
“Young adults have historically been the least represented population in national elections,” Domagal-Goldman said. “ALL IN was established to encourage young people to participate in our democracy by meeting them where they are: at colleges and universities.”
Specifically, ALL IN helps each participating campus register students to vote in all elections. For each campus, ALL IN implements a “Nonpartisan Campus Action Plan,” where they are encouraged to utilize the “Strengthening American Democracy: A Guide for Developing an Action Plan to Increase Civic Learning, Political Engagement, and Voter Participation Among College Students.” These steps outlined in the document call for campuses to create a team and develop a timeline.
On their website, ALL IN has example plans from traditional four-year universities, community colleges, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI), and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Within their planning guide, ALL IN also encourages the campuses’ goals to be “continuous” rather than having their work only occur during election years.
“We want students to register and vote in local, state, and national elections,” Domagal-Goldman said.
Domagal-Goldman also added that, according to their research, campuses partnered with ALL IN programming have a voter turnout rate that is an average of five percentage points higher compared to other campuses.
Within their broader connection with campuses, ALL IN also has other initiatives targeting specific students, like college athletes. For example, they have their Athletic Conference Voting Challenges, which target student athletes in 15 conferences.
“Their team was excellent to work with throughout the process, making it seamless and manageable for our small staff,” Commissioner of the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Stacey LaDew said. “This collaboration has allowed us to foster meaningful dialogue and create impactful initiatives that resonate with our student-athletes, coaches, and administrators.”
ALL IN also has their Presidential Commitment initiative, which has college and university leaders “actively” commit toward the goal of full student participation in all elections. To date, according to ALL IN’s website, more than 775 college and university leaders have made this commitment.
“Campuses whose leaders have made this pledge consistently achieve higher voter turnout rates than other campuses,” Domagal-Goldman said in reference to the commitment.
Beyond voting, she also said they want students to participate in civic discourse on campus, see how decisions made by elected leaders impact their lives and more. Domagal-Goldman added that, each year, ALL IN awards “outstanding” students across the country on their Student Voting Honor Roll.
“We want students…to understand that civic engagement goes beyond just voting,” Domagal-Goldman said.
ALL IN recently named their 2025 class with honorees spanning from 41 states, representing 39 community colleges, 194 four-year universities, 44 HSIs, and eight HBCUs. Domagal-Goldman also added that this fall, they will be honoring awardees at a ceremony specifically for their accomplishments based on data from the 2024 election cycle.
“It’s one of my favorite things we do here at ALL IN,” Domagal-Goldman said in reference to the honor roll. “And I’m excited to see how these students continue our mission.”
Maggie Rhoads is a student journalist attending George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs. At The Fulcrum, she covers how legislation and policy are impacting communities.
Maggie was a cohort member in Common Ground USA's Journalism program, where Hugo Balta served as an instructor. Balta is the executive editor of the Fulcrum, and the publisher of the Latino News Network.
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