Cal State San Bernardino received a gold seal at the 2019 ALL IN Challenge Awards Ceremony for achieving a college student voting rate between 40 and 49 percent in the 2018 midterm election.
 
The ceremony was held recently in Washington, D.C., to recognize colleges and universities committed to increasing college student voting rates.
 
“We are deeply honored to receive the ALL IN Challenge Awards gold seal. It recognizes the determination and dedication of our students, faculty and staff to inspire and work with our students to become leaders and be more active in their communities,” said CSUSB President Tomás Morales. “I’ve always said it’s part of our DNA to help our students become better citizens and the gold seal reinforces the university’s mission.”
 
Student participation in elections has increased from the 2014 midterm election to the recent 2018 midterm election. According to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, an initiative of Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy & Higher Education, voter turnout at the more than 1,000 institutions participating in the study increased by 21 points from 19 percent to 40 percent. Cal State San Bernardino’s data reveals the student voting rate grew by 15 points from 28 percent in 2014 to 43.2 percent in 2018.
 
“We are excited to honor Cal State San Bernardino with an ALL IN Challenge gold seal in recognition of their intentional efforts to increase democratic engagement and full voter participation,” said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “More institutions like CSUSB are changing culture on campus by institutionalizing nonpartisan democratic engagement efforts that are resulting in the incredible student voter turnout rates that we’ve seen across the country.”
 
Four other CSU campuses, Monterey Bay, Northridge, Sacramento and San Marcos also received gold seals. Chico State received a silver seal for campuses that have 30-39 percent voter participation in the 2018 midterm election.
 
Last year CSUSB was recognized with a bronze seal at the first-ever ALL IN Challenge Awards Ceremony, held last October, to recognize colleges and universities committed to increasing college student voting rates.
 
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a nonpartisan, national initiative recognizing and supporting campuses as they work to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement and full student voter participation. The Challenge encourages higher education institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship, and make democratic participation a core value on their campus.
 
More than 560 campuses, enrolling more than 6.2 million students, have joined the Challenge since its launch in summer 2016.
 
Visit the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge website for more information.