SE Valley Times

Rio Salado College has been recognized as a 2024 ALL IN Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. This acknowledgment highlights the college's efforts to boost nonpartisan student voter participation in the 2024 election.

The college is among 471 institutions honored by ALL IN, an organization dedicated to enhancing civic engagement across more than 1,075 campuses nationwide.

“This award is made possible in great part because of the passionate leadership demonstrated by our student leaders and Director of Student Life & Leadership, Kate Packer,” said Rio Salado President Kate Smith. “Promoting civic engagement is a key tenet at Rio Salado, and we will proudly continue our efforts to increase student voter turnout, and proudly share this award with our community.”

Rio Salado was acknowledged for completing four core actions set by ALL IN:

- Participating in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge

- Sharing 2022 NSLVE Reports with campus voting data with ALL IN

- Developing and submitting a 2024 democratic engagement action plan with ALL IN

- Having a current signatory to ALL IN’s Higher Education Presidents’ Commitment to Full Student Voter Participation

“The research is clear: colleges and universities that make intentional efforts to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement have higher campus voter registration and voter turnout rates,” said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, Executive Director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.

The college's Student Life & Leadership division spearheaded its student voting initiatives during this year's election cycle.

“Our focus is on making civic engagement a lasting part of everyday culture, even during ‘off’ election years,” said Packer.

Rio Salado collaborated with several nonpartisan organizations including AZ Clean Elections, AZ Town Hall, Campus Vote Project, VoteRiders, Fair Elections Center, and the nationwide ALL IN Campus Democracy Initiative. These partnerships resulted in 19 events held virtually, in-person, and in hybrid formats across various locations of Rio Salado College. The events included Constitution Day, National Voter Education Week, Vote Early events, Election Hero Day, among others.

“With the support of a grant, we accessed essential training and resources to launch our civic engagement efforts and welcomed four students as Rio Salado’s first Democracy Fellows,” Packer said.

“One memorable outcome came from a student at Rio Salado’s Northern location who initially wasn’t planning to vote despite being registered,” Packer said. “After speaking with our Democracy Fellows during a Vote Early event, she felt empowered and informed, ultimately deciding to cast her ballot.”

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge currently involves 10.8 million students across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.