By Samantha Scott ’27

In the Fall 2026 term, Shenandoah University obtained a grant of $4,500 from Ask Every Student (AES), a nonprofit organization committed to teaching students about voter registration. AES is connected with Campus Voter Project, another nonprofit organization that educates students about voting. The Campus Voter Project works closely with Shenandoah’s Center for Civic Engagement (CCE). 

All of these organizations collaborate to educate first-year students. The goal of AES, the Campus Voter Project, and CCE is to not only answer common voter questions, but also to increase voter participation in college students. The end goal of these organizations and Shenandoah University is to normalize the act of voting among younger individuals.

This grant (an increase from the $1,500 Shenandoah received in Fall 2025) supports campus leadership and First-Year Seminar student mentors – sophomore, junior and senior students who serve as in-class leaders and role models. 

FYS student mentors go through training to learn how to actively engage with students to educate them about their voting rights. These mentors then present to their peers about the power and importance of voting during FYS courses in a Voting 101 lesson. This program has been proven to be highly effective for SU. Being that the Voting 101 lesson is taught peer-to-peer style, students are more engaged, resulting in action taken at the polls, according to Rebecca Gibson, Shenandoah’s Director of Civic Engagement.”FYS mentors also tend to return year-after-year, further lending to the effectiveness (and the joy) this program offers.

This can be seen with Student Government Association President Carter Sand ’27  and Savannah Smith ’28. Both of these accomplished students have been FYS mentors for the past two years, and have participated in Voting 101 presentations twice. 

“As a First-Year Seminar mentor, I have the opportunity to connect with first-year students and to be a part of their start at Shenandoah,” Smith said. “I have the privilege of working with a wonderful professor to help guide students through this pivotal time in their collegiate experience. An impactful way I get to connect with students is through mentor-led presentations, one of them being Voting 101. As both the voter engagement coordinator at the Center for Civic Engagement and an FYS mentor, this program is especially important to me. Through this presentation, I get to share nonpartisan voting information with students, such as how to register to vote, how to vote from campus, and how to make their voting plan. Students really connect with the open dialogue during the presentation, where they discuss issues that matter to them and how voting can address these topics.”

Sand agreed. “The first semester of college can be overwhelming and filled with change; being able to help guide and mentor first year students through this transition to college is incredibly fulfilling,” he said. “Voting can seem overwhelming at first, but I think they are more receptive to learning about it from a peer. By having me teach the Voting 101 lesson, it lowers the stakes and shows students that they don’t need to be an expert to exercise their right to vote.” 

The data alone highlights the impact these programs and Voting 101 has had on the Shenandoah University campus. Last year, 62 students registered to vote during their class presentations, which is the highest number of registrations Shenandoah has recorded in a non-presidential election year, Gibson said. In addition, this program allowed 20 out of 30 classes and over 400 students overall to participate in the Voting 101 lesson.

These grants have enabled the student-run voter engagement team in the Center for Civic Engagement to vastly expand our programming. Not only did we have the opportunity to update last year’s Voting 101 lesson and make it more relatable to current FYS students, we were also able to invite FYS faculty members to participate as ‘Faculty Champions’ who contribute by supporting their FYS mentor’s presentation and by sharing relevant voter engagement information in their class all semester long. This year, 25 out of 28 FYS mentors presented Voting 101, enabling 500 students to learn about voter registration. Ensuring that students have an opportunity to register when they are in their first year and may be brand new voters is crucial to fostering lifelong voter engagement.”

Rebecca Gibson, Shenandoah University’s Director of Civic Engagement

Other grants the CCE obtained this term was a $1,500 grant to host a “Party at the Polls.” and a $200 reimbursement grant from Every Vote Counts, which supported a campuswide event commemorating National Voter Education Week on Oct. 7. 

CCE’s work-study students are the ones applying for and implementing these grants into practice. They help manage, set up, run and advertise these events to students, creating a full-circle loop that starts and ends with students. 

“Through Voting 101 and the work of the democratic engagement team at CCE, we currently have 63 students registered to vote,” Smith said. “Our goal is to reduce perceived barriers when it comes to voting and to educate students about democracy and their civic responsibilities.”

The CCE is hosting a Victory for Voting Celebration on Election Day with shuttle rides to the polls nearly all day. The BSC also hosts tables with Voter 101 information.

Questions? Contact CCE at serve@su.edu, or visit in-person, Monday-Friday, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the CCE office in the Brandt Student Center, Room 119.