Over the summer and into the 2018-2019 school year, the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students teamed up with the Undergraduate Student Government and our resident political organization, the Whig-Cliosophic Society to launch an exciting voter engagement campaign. Vote100 became the name of the initiative, referencing the goal to have 100% undergraduate student engagement in the 2018 midterm elections and all future elections for which students are available. The initiative encourages students to take an online pledge to engage in the voting process which is to increase the likelihood that students vote. With our informal motto of “…service of humanity,” there’s a calling for Princetonians to engage with our basic tool, voting, in the democratic process. In fact, the University hosts an on-campus polling location on election days.
The campaign also encourages international students and non-New Jersey natives to vote in their home country elections, encourage their eligible peers to vote, or vote in their home state via absentee ballot. To kick off the initiative, Vote100 hosted “Stand Up and Vote,” a comedy special on the first day of classes. Former host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart, even showed up as a surprise for the students!
The campaign has been the embodiment of campus engagement. Every week of the semester so far, students from all walks of campus life and political ideologies have come together to help students pledge and register to vote in Frist Campus Center. Regardless of who people vote for, there is a community recognition of our obligation to give back as Princeton students and to become active participants of civil society.