With just seven weeks until the presidential election, students, faculty, and staff are working together to engage voters across college campuses. 

This Saturday, September 21st, Harvard College will host the Boston & Massachusetts Campus Voting Summit, helping students learn how to lead the charge in mobilizing voters on their campuses. More than just academic hubs, college campuses are vital catalysts for civic engagement and fostering a thriving democracy. 

The 2024 Summit is a collaborative effort between campus voting groups across Massachusetts and is facilitated by the non-partisan ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, Harvard University, and Harvard Votes Challenge, a non-partisan initiative focused on boosting voter registration across the campus community. The Summit will gather students, faculty, and staff from colleges and universities across Massachusetts. Attendees will connect, share resources, and exchange best practices for voter mobilization as they kick off the academic semester. 

Harvard College’s Dean of Students, Thomas Dunne, who collaborated with Harvard Votes Challenge and ALL IN to organize the event, expressed excitement about “the opportunity to say Harvard can be a convener and bring people who are doing voter engagement work in all these different campuses so that they are energized by meeting many people from different colleges and universities who are doing this work.” 

Dunne has been involved in civic engagement since the 2000 election and organized a similar event at Princeton for college campuses in New Jersey, where he was inspired by students who were organizing and mobilizing for youth voting in schools where there were not enough resources or support. He highlighted the importance of creating a space for people to learn from one another and be inspired by ongoing civic work across Massachusetts. He also noted that the voting process can be disproportionately difficult for college students, especially those who face housing instability due to more frequent moving, such as dorm changes. 

The event will feature keynote speeches, workshops, and networking opportunities. Jordan Schwartz ’27, co-chair of Harvard Votes Challenge and one of the organizers of the Summit, explained that the event’s goal is to bring together different campus vote organizers to share resources, ensure voter registration, and prepare for the final stretch before the election. 

Schwartz added that the Summit will “show the resources that can help us to best accomplish these goals, whether that’s figuring out what sorts of tablings, trainings, text banks, and door-knocking sessions are most effective to get people to vote; or if there are specific tailored strategies or best ways to deal with mailing services so that people know when they are getting their mail ballots.” 

Workshops will include breakout groups discussing the best use of resources like the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) by Tufts University. Students and staff will have the opportunity to attend workshops organized by student voter groups like Harvard Votes Challenge to hone their skills ahead of the fall election season. Reflecting on the event, Dunne hopes it will generate innovative ideas to achieve high voter participation in November while also considering long-term structural changes. The event offers a unique chance to foster cross-campus connections and build lasting projects beyond this election cycle. 

Dunne also emphasized that the event will help attendees recognize the real-world applications of academic research and studies, stressing that this is “an avenue where you can actually make change outside of the academic setting.” 

They both are eager to hear from different perspectives, explore the tools and information universities need, and determine what strategies work best for different groups. For example, student organizers from universities with large in-state populations may focus on early voting and Election Day, while schools like Harvard, with many out-of-state students, must prioritize absentee ballots and vote-by-mail. Despite these differences, Schwartz noted, “peer-to-peer organization, getting the word out, and creating a culture of celebration for civic engagement” apply across all campuses. 

There are many ways to get involved with voting and civic engagement initiatives. Schwartz explained that Harvard Votes Challenge’s work on voter turnout goes beyond the results of elections themselves to emphasize "educating yourself as a citizen and citizen leader."

Both Dunne and Schwartz are committed to helping students set early voting habits and develop plans, particularly for first-time voters in this election cycle. 

“The habits we form today in terms of voting, civic engagement, and being involved with the democratic process stay with us for life,” Schwartz said. “If we can have a class of Harvard students each year graduating who are prepared to be civically engaged and be civic leaders for the rest of their lives, who are the students who are going to lead every field imaginable, because of the work we are doing here, I think it is a success.” Schwartz invited community members to register to vote, join Harvard Votes Challenge, and mobilize the youth vote to make young voices heard. Interested community members can register for the 2024 Boston & Massachusetts Campus Voting Summit by Friday, September 20th. 

Dunne added, “If you see yourself as a Harvard student and then a Harvard alum who commits to voting in every election for which you are eligible, I think that’s fulfilling some of our obligations for the amount of opportunities and resources we’ve been given at Harvard to give back to our home communities."