Civic Engagement Work by Our Chapters
In the lead up to the 2012 election URGE chapters around the country helped to register voters, educated their peers, and get out the vote on election day. Thanks to advocates like them, the 2012 election had record high turn out of young voters.
Nationwide, our chapters registered more than 5,000 new voters! But, these three chapters really went above and beyond to make sure their campus was well represented in this election:
University of Texas at El Paso
For the first ever National Voter Registration Day, back in September, ten URGE campuses registered more than 1700 voters in one day. But the rockstars over at University of Texas El Paso single-handedly brought in more than 700 registrations. The continued to register until the Texas deadline and racked up a grand total of 1200 registrations.
University of Pittsburgh
Our chapter at Pitt organized a non-partisan coalition of student advocacy groups to build power on campus. By initiating this coalition of 10 student groups they were able to increase their influence and strategically use resources. This resulted in the coalition registering more than 3,000 voters on Pitt’s campus!
University of Alabama
A new chapter to the URGE family, students at Alabama wasted no time getting to work. After helping students get registered to vote, they decided to focus on voter education and getting out the vote. They organized a trick-or-vote dorm storm, a political action fair, and a phone bank to remind students about voting. They also effectively lobbied the Student Government to provide a direct route shuttle to the campus polling center, so students had easy and quick access to the polls between classes.
