DEARBORN — Henry Ford College received a Silver Seal at the 2019 All In Campus Democracy Challenge Awards Ceremony held in Washington, D.C., for achieving a student voter turnout rate between 30 and 39 percent for the 2018 election.
“Voting is an awesome responsibility, which gives people a voice in the American democratic system – something we cannot impress upon our students enough,” said HFC Student Activities Officer Cassandra Fluker, who coordinates voter drives to get students to register to vote on the HFC campus several times a year.
“We are proud to get this national recognition for our efforts. The faculty, staff, and students at the college are committed to working together to reduce voter apathy, increase voter engagement, and graduate civic-minded students who are prepared to address the nation and the world’s most pressing issues, especially since we have a presidential election coming up in 2020.”
Student participation in elections has increased from the 2014 midterm election to the recent 2018 midterm election. According to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement – an initiative of Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy & Higher Education – voter turnout at more than 1,000 institutions participating in the study increased by 21 points from 19 to 40 percent.
HFC achieved a 33.3 percent voting rate for 2018, which is a 16.8 percent increase from 2014. HFC’s NSLVE data also revealed 5,528 students registered to vote in 2018. Of those 5,528 students, 3,184 voted.
“We are excited to honor Henry Ford College with an All In Democracy Challenge Silver Seal in recognition of their intentional efforts to increase democratic engagement and full voter participation,” All In Executive Director Jennifer Domagal-Goldman said. “More institutions like HFC are changing the 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.”