Columbia Votes!
Columbia Votes! is an initiative begun by Associate Professor Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin to bring systematic, 50-state voting to Columbia College Chicago students. Based on the success of programs like NU Votes (the pioneer of this approach) and with the support of national organizations including the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, Columbia Votes seeks to help every student learn about voting and assist them to register and vote in the location they choose: on-campus or back home.
We use the Ask Every Student model of engagement, a one-on-one approach that has proven more effective than any other. However, during the 2020 election, the pandemic forced us to help remotely.
We have also developed curricular modules that are being used at many other campuses, and state-by-state guides through the specifics of every state's registration and vote-by-mail processes.
Columbia Votes offers paid positions to student "voter registration geniuses," who assist their peers through the process. Positions are posted on Handshake, and inquiries should be directed to Sharon at speshkin@colum.edu. General questions can be directed to vote@colum.edu.
Columbia Votes is part of a larger goal of civic engagement and civic education here at Columbia College Chicago.
We invite you to contribute to the development of Columbia Votes by engaging with the Ideas and Let's Talk tools on this page. You can subscribe to this page to receive newsletters and/or reaching out to our team using the Who's Listening tool.
We are proud to be a co-designer campus with Ask Every Student, a partner with Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, and a member of the All-In Campus Democracy Challenge. Join us!
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CAPE (Civic Activism, Participation, and Engagement)
We are pleased to announce that as of this Fall 2023 semester, Professor Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin is the LAS Faculty Fellow for Civic Engagement. In this role, Sharon is continuing her work leading Columbia Votes, which has raised the voting rate at our college from 56% to 72% since its inception. Sharon and her voter registration geniuses are continuing to visit to all sections of Big Chicago, staff voter registration tables at the Student Center and the University Center, partner with the Columbia College Library for National Voter Registration Day and other civic holidays, as well as offer ongoing support for our students to help them learn about candidates and issues and to vote early, vote by mail, or vote in person. She also continues to collaborate with national college voting organizations, among whom Columbia College Chicago is regarded as a leader.
In addition, Sharon will partner with Student Affairs on a newly formed project called CAPE (Civic Activism, Participation, and Engagement). CAPE is part of the college’s Strategic Plan and will be housed in the LAS Dean’s Office. It provides opportunities for all campus members to play a positive role in advocating for and enacting positive social change. Through CAPE, students will be able to earn badges on their co-curricular transcripts and be recognized during commencement for civic activities, including participating in electoral politics, taking courses with civically engaged content, engaging in art activism, and joining community organizations that focus on increasing civic knowledge and/or action.
Sharon has already launched a new online portal for CAPE, and I encourage all members of the Columbia College community to join columbiavotes.motivote.us, where you can learn about the expanded civic engagement initiatives and earn Columbia Votes swag. You can also access it through this QR code:
Sharon welcomes invitations for her voter registration geniuses to visit classes and partner on events campuswide. You can reach her at speshkin@colum.edu or the whole team at vote@colum.edu.
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Take Action!
An information video you might find interesting
Our Team in Action
Who's Listening
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Associate Professor, Journalism / Creator, Columbia Votes!
Columbia College Chicago
Email speshkin@colum.edu
