AAMU Coordinator Writes Voter Education Article for Forbes

AAMU Service Learning and Volunteerism Coordinator Monica Clarke’s article, “The Legacy of Service and Voting at Alabama A&M University,” was recently published on forbes.com. The article is under Forbes Civic Nation, which gives voice to high-impact, national organizing and educational initiatives that tackle some of the biggest challenges facing our country.

“I was invited by the Students Learn Students Vote (SLSV) Coalition to discuss service and voting,” says Clarke. “SLSV is the largest nonpartisan network in the country dedicated to increasing student voter participation. I was determined to highlight our efforts and help other institutions to understand the importance of this work.” 

Clarke discusses AAMU’s longstanding work to get students registered to vote. She also describes why four students sued the Alabama Secretary of State and the Madison County Board of Registrars in 2018 after they had to fill out provisional ballots during midterm elections. The students claimed they had registered before the deadline, but were denied the right to vote on Election Day.

“The lawsuit was dismissed, but it helped the University community come together to keep students involved in voter education, registration and voter turnout,” says Clarke.

Clarke also discussed AAMU student involvement in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, which AAMU has been a member of since 2017.

“All IN is a national organization that works the hundreds of campuses across the country, helping them to find resources to support voter registration, voter education and voter turnout,” says Clarke.

Alabama A&M University’s ongoing voter registration work was also recently highlighted in “The U.S. Department of Education Toolkit for the Promotion of Voter Participation for Students.” The toolkit provides best practices to all education and community agencies across the country. Under “Resources for Postsecondary Institutions (page 7),” AAMU is highlighted for its use of Federal Work Study (FWS) funds to recruit residential advisors, provide them with stipends and train them to help register students as part of their day-to-day responsibilities of engaging with the students in their respective residence halls.

“This is well deserved national exposure for all of the work our campus does to ensure our students know the importance of their right to vote.”

Clarke says any student, faculty or staff member interested in being part of AAMU’s ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge can email her at monica.clarke@aamu.edu.

(Photo L-R) Graduate Student Omolara Afolayan; Monica Clarke; Sophomore Paris Clack