About 25 faculty, staff, and students came together in a voter registration effort leading up to the midterm elections. Staffing booths several times per week, volunteers made sure students had the information needed to register and vote; provided pamphlets and absentee ballots; and pointed out resources to learn more about issues that mattered to individual students.
“Voting is your voice,” says Tony Mueller, the director of Community Service Learning. “You want your voice to be heard, and the issues to be dealt with. That’s why we’re doing this.”
Professor Jennifer Tilton, who teaches race and ethnic studies at the U of R, says the work is part of the University’s mission to educate hearts and minds: “We want students to understand how political processes and elections affect other aspects of social change. We bring our students into the community so they can to learn how to be engaged citizens. Voting is a huge part of that education.”
