Grand Valley has been selected as one of 231 higher education institutions across the country to receive a Voter Friendly Campus designation for 2021-22.
The designation was awarded by Campus Vote Project and National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) to universities and colleges that planned and implemented practices encouraging students to register to vote and cast their ballot.
GVSU received this recognition for the first time in 2016.
During the Fall 2020 semester, the Office of Student Life’s Community Service Learning Center (CSLC) hosted and participated in events during National Voter Registration Week. Students were trained how to host “Couch Parties,” which were opportunities to help friends and family register to vote.
The CSLC’s GVSU Votes! initiative and the Campus Democratic Engagement Coalition also hosted an Allendale Township Satellite Clerk’s Office on campus to increase voter participation as well as a Vote Early Day when it first opened in October.
On Election Day, students drove golf carts around GVSU’s Allendale Campus to offer rides to their peers to vote in Kirkhof Center until the satellite clerk’s office closed. The office opened on campus in mid-October and offered several services, including the ability to register to vote and request an absentee ballot.
Melissa Baker-Boosamra, associate director for Student Life, said the students' commitment to having their voices heard is inspiring.
“Our students' creativity and resilience and commitment to democracy showed through,” she said. "We helped get students out to vote, but the work is not done and there are a number of ways the work continues moving forward.
For more information about the Community Service Learning Center, visit gvsu.edu/service.
