Geneseo recognized for student political engagement, work of Andrew Goodman Foundation

On Nov. 17, SUNY Geneseo reported that the campus received recognition for student voting from the All In Campus Democracy Challenge. This organization, which seeks to promote student participation in elections, included Geneseo among campuses nationwide in their 2022 list for Most Engaged Campuses. 

The All In Campus Democracy Challenge seeks to encourage political engagement through a nonpartisan approach in order to appeal to all student voters. At Geneseo, the Andrew Goodman Foundation (AGF)—an active organization on several college campuses throughout the United States—works toward a similar goal. Receiving national recognition brings immense reassurance that the organization is achieving its goals of promoting the importance of voting to all Geneseo students. 

Senior international relations major Tim Rainis is one of the leaders on the AGF’s team of ambassadors. He described how rewarding it feels to know that the nonpartisan group is making a difference and that all of the hard work they put into increasing voter turnout among students is paying off.

“It’s a testament to many years and many teams of Andrew Goodman ambassadors doing work here with Nick Palumbo and the Center for Community,” Rainis said. “It’s a testament to the persistence of everyone involved, because it’s never a small task in organizing an entire campus of busy college students to be actively engaged in elections.”

With this being said, it has been important for Rainis, Palumbo, and other leaders on the organization's team of ambassadors to employ numerous strategies to get involved in voting. Namely, Rainis noted the importance of making the voting process easily accessible to students. 

“We try to make it as in-your-face and as convenient as possible to fill out a voter registration form. We’ve done consistent tabling in the [MacVittie College] Union, we’ve had signage directing people to go to the Gold Room… over many months, you just put many [events] on so you can get people to come over and do what they have to do,” expressed Rainis. 

Rainis also stated that no matter how students want to vote, whether it be in person or by absentee ballot, the AGF seeks to help them in whatever way they can to ensure that the students have every chance to vote in elections. 

Of course, as with many aspects of campus life, the COVID-19 pandemic proved to bring on a new set of challenges for the voting process. Upperclassmen at Geneseo may remember, for example, when voter registration used to be available upon arrival to campus for their freshman move-in day through residence life; however, first-year arrival processes have changed significantly since the beginning of the pandemic. In turn, Geneseo’s branch of the AGF, in collaboration with Student Association and its subcommittees, had to be creative in designing new systems and strategies for promoting voting in elections to students. 

“This year, we tried to get all the new student events, like… the new-student resources expo and the club expo, and all these different mass tabling events, just letting people know [about voting] and handing out flyers,” said Rainis. 

With this recognition, the ambassadors of the organization are proactively looking towards the future to keep student involvement in elections high and to continue stressing the vitality of civic engagement. They hope that students will continue to take on an active role in participating in government and encourage all students to go to the polls at any opportunity. 

“Everyone should know that elections happen every year,” Rainis said. “It’s not a four-year thing; it’s not even a two-year thing. So make sure you’re registered, and you have all your materials and absentee ballots well before any deadlines.”