Tri-C Recognized as a ‘Voter Friendly Campus’

National designation awarded to 123 campuses, including a dozen community colleges

Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C^®) recently earned national status as a “Voter Friendly Campus” in recognition of its efforts to help students participate in the political process.

Tri-C is one of only a dozen community colleges across the country to gain the designation. Overall, 123 campuses in 31 states were recognized for their work to develop a culture of democratic engagement.

The program requires campuses to promote voter registration and voting to students as an institutional mission. The project is sponsored by the Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA).

Motivating students to register and vote establishes civic habits that last well beyond the college experience, said Mike Burns, national director of the Campus Vote Project.

“Our work at Campus Vote Project and the development of the Voter Friendly Campus designation with NASPA allows us to continue to foster the civic mission of higher education to prepare the next generation of citizen leaders,” Burns said.

Efforts at Tri-C include “The Voting Experience,” an initiative to educate students about the voting process. Two of the College’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Scholars — Anthony Ahmad and Kyle Ray, both national Democracy Fellows — launched the project last year.

The College also offers a year-round “Promote the Vote” campaign and takes part in activities such as the Cuyahoga County Youth Summit, an outreach event for high school students.

Institutions designated as Voter Friendly Campuses represent a wide range of two-year, four-year, public, private, rural and urban campuses. The honored campuses have a total enrollment of nearly two million students.

March 19, 2019

John Horton, 216-987-4281 john.horton@tri-c.edu