FSU Designated a Voter Friendly Campus For 4th Consecutive Year

Mar 30, 2023 12:00 PM

University’s Practices Encourage Students to Register and Vote

Frostburg State University was once again named a Voter Friendly Campus by national nonpartisan organizations Fair Election Center’s Campus Vote Project and NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. FSU is one of 258 campuses in 38 states and the District of Columbia to receive this distinction, a recognition first received in 2017 just following the 2016 presidential election.

The mission of the 2023 Voter Friendly Campus designation is to bolster colleges and universities’ efforts to help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process. The initiative recognizes institutions that have planned and implemented practices that encourage their students to register and vote in elections in the coming years.

Frostburg was evaluated based on a written plan for how they planned to register, educate and turnout student voters last year (2022) and how the university facilitated voter engagement efforts on campus.

“Frostburg State University strives to engage students as informed citizens of their communities,” says Patrick O’Brien, FSU Director of Civic Engagement. “Active participation in voting and the democratic process are key parts of that effort and helps to strengthen our student’s leadership skills so they are ready to make positive changes in their community and face any challenges ahead.”

As part of their effort to be designated a Voter Friendly Campus, FSU implemented a comprehensive plan to engage students in the democratic process. For the most recent election cycle, the University employed a team of Student Voter Engagement Ambassadors who actively worked to inform students across campus about the voting process by organizing voter registration drives, disseminating literature about deadlines and mail-in balloting and offering free shuttle service to polling locations on Election Day.

“I continue to be impressed by the leadership of our students and their activism in civic engagement related issues and their dedication to making the spaces they live in and the world better for everyone,” boasts O’Brien.

Among other engagement efforts were Times Talks and Town Hall meetings that gave students the opportunity to participate in moderated discussions about current issues and candidate platforms. In partnership with Allegany College of Maryland and Garrett College, FSU hosted a gubernatorial candidate forum in advance of the spring primaries and with an additional co-sponsorship from Hagerstown Community College, a District 6 candidate forum in preparation for fall elections.

According to O’Brien, “During these forums, students from partnering institutions developed the questions and acted as the moderators.” All of Frostburg’s voter and democratic engagement efforts were organized by FSU’s Office of Civic Engagement, the J. Glenn Beall Institute for Public Affairs and the Voter Engagement Ambassadors.

Frostburg State University has made a strong statement about their civic mission to prepare students to be engaged participants in our democracy. “As polarization of political views continues to grow, being able to navigate bias in the news and on social media, the ability to have productive dialogue with individuals of differing opinions, and the knowledge of how to productively engage in the democratic process will be vital to our students and the nation’s future,” says O’Brien.

The institutions designated Voter Friendly Campuses represent a wide range of two-year, four-year, public, private, rural and urban campuses collectively serving over 3.5 million students.

Just seven other Maryland schools were designated Voter Friendly this year: University of Baltimore, Wor-Wic Community College, Towson University, University of Maryland Baltimore County, John Hopkins University, Allegany College of Maryland and Morgan State University.

See the complete list of 2023 Voter Friendly Campuses.