SPLC Grant Will Advance AAMU's Commitment to Voter Outreach

The AAMU Civic Engagement Team's work to engage students and community members through voter registration events has garnered national attention. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in partnership with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, recently awarded Alabama A&M University a $100,000 Vote Your Voice Grant to continue voter awareness initiatives.

SPLC, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization that specializes in civil rights and pubic interest litigation, created the Vote Your Voice campaign to provide $100 million in grants to organizations in the Deep South to build voter outreach and civic engagement over the next decade. Alabama A&M University will use the grant to achieve four goals. The first is to make civic engagement, service learning and social justice part of Freshman Orientation 101 and 102 class curricula.

“Classroom activities will include organizing letter-writing campaigns, community town hall meetings, and political and policy debates, and much more,” says AAMU Service and Learning Communities & Volunteerism Coordinator Monica Clarke. “Making this part of the mandatory orientation ensures our students understand why the entire process of voting is so important.”

The second goal is to increase student-led civic engagement and social justice activities on campus.

“Our Civic Engagement Team is made up of faculty, staff and students,” says WJAB Program Director and Civic Engagement Team leader Erica “Fox” Washington. “This grant will allow us to train our student leaders to mobilize and register voters, understand Alabama voting laws and best voter registration practices, and become knowledgeable of the Alabama Secretary of State website.” 

The third goal is to increase male voter registration and voter turnout. Many higher-education institutions identity campus voting needs by analyzing data from the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE), administered by Tufts University. AAMU’s NSLVE in Fall 2022 found 78 percent of male students were registered to vote on Election Day 2022, but only 19 percent cast a ballot. Experts say this problem is pervasive across the country and is common among Black male voters.

The fourth goal is increasing overall faculty engagement in civic and social justice activities.

“Our AAMU Civic Engagement Team will work with the Faculty Senate to increase support from faculty,” says Clarke. “Faculty will be encouraged to participate in focus groups, volunteer at events, and host guest lecturers in their classrooms to discuss civic engagement and social justice concerns.”

The Andrew Goodman Foundation honored AAMU with its 2022 Campus Team of the Year Hidden Heroes Award, recognizing AAMU’s dedication to the foundation’s mission to “make young voices and votes a powerful force for democracy.” Clarke says this grant will ensure the mission continues.

More: https://www.splcenter.org/news/2024/01/19/building-better-democracy-community-action