Mesa Community College Designated a Voter Friendly Campus
MESA, AZ – Mesa Community College (MCC) is pleased to announce it has been designated a Voter Friendly Campus by the national nonpartisan organizations Fair Election Center’s Campus Vote Project and NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.
MCC participated in an initiative which held participating institutions accountable for planning and implementing practices that encouraged their students to register and vote in the 2018 elections and in the coming years. MCC was one of 123 colleges across 31 states to earn the Voter Friendly Campus designation and was one of only two in Arizona to earn the designation.
“We are delighted to have earned the Voter Family Campus designation,” says Duane Oakes, faculty director, MCC Center for Community and Civic Engagement. “We are committed to civic engagement at MCC in a nonpartisan environment and want our students to understand the importance of exercising their right to vote.”
The mission of the Voter Friendly Campus designation is to bolster efforts that help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process. Throughout 2018, MCC campus representatives participated in training, developed a campus plan and were evaluated on their ability to engage student voters in 2018. The designation is valid through December 2020.
MCC partnered with the Andrew Goodman Foundation, which allowed MCC students to access the my.VoteEverywhere portal to register to vote, confirm registration, request an absentee ballot, check for voter ID laws, and to learn about the candidates. MCC was one of five schools across the country chosen to pilot a texting platform with the Foundation to help promote Voter Registration.
MCC also partnered with the Campus Election Engagement Project (CEEP), a national nonpartisan project that helps administrators, faculty, staff, and student leaders at America’s colleges and universities engage students in federal, state and local elections. CEEP provided four MCC student fellowships with $1,000 stipends for event participation, a campus electoral engagement assessment and assisted with Civic Engagement Week activities.
The MCC Center for Community and Civic Engagement held a Constitution Day celebration, Civic Engagement Week activities, workshops, and other events to earn the designation. The college also partnered with local community organizations such as the Mesa City Council and the Maricopa County Recorder to speak to students about the importance of voting. The Operation Vote Coalition, along with other partnerships, enabled hundreds of students register to vote.
The MCC Center for Community and Civic Engagement will continue to explore new possibilities with other community partners. The partnership with the Andrew Goodman Foundation has allowed for continuation of a student-led project and plans are in progress to continue with civic engagement events and activities such as moderator training and deliberative dialogues for the Spring 2019 semester. Students are encouraged to become involved. For more information on community and civic engagement at MCC, visit mesacc.edu/community-civic-engagement.
Mesa Community College is nationally recognized as an Aspen Prize Top 150 U.S. Community College and is known for service learning, career, and technical programs; civic engagement; and innovative approaches to education. The college serves as a resource for career readiness, transfer education, workforce development and lifelong learning. Host to more than 30,000 students annually, MCC offers degree and certificate programs online, at its two campuses, the Mesa Downtown Center, and additional locations. Through the implementation of Guided Pathways with Integrated Support Services, MCC is transforming ways it champions student success; college completion, university transfer, and career attainment for all students. MCC is a Hispanic Serving Institution. The diverse student body includes more than 400 international students representing over 60 countries. Award-winning faculty are dedicated to student success, providing the education and training to empower MCC students to compete locally and globally. Located in the East Valley of Phoenix, AZ, MCC is one of the 10 colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District. Learn more at mesacc.edu.