The average student voting rate at U.S. colleges and universities jumped from 19% in 2014 to 40% in 2018, according to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement. Efforts like the one recently undertaken by Niagara University’s Rose Bente Lee Ostapenko Center for Race, Equality, and Mission have helped to increase civic engagement among these young men and women.
Students were available at three locations on the Niagara University campus, as well as in the community at the Niagara Falls Public Library, Heart, Love & Soul, and Community Missions of the Niagara Frontier, on Oct. 9, 2019, to assist with voter registration efforts.
At the end of the day, 41 new voters were registered, and everyone who stopped by the tables learned more about the requirements to vote and resources that would help them make their decisions for the upcoming election on Nov. 5, 2019.