University Community Comes Together for Election

For many University of Scranton students, this was their first election as eligible voters. In the months leading up to the election, faculty, staff and students have worked diligently to ensure that all members of our campus community were election-ready through our campus-wide Royals Vote initiative.

To prepare students to vote in the election, the Office of Community Relations and Scranton Student Government partnered throughout the fall semester to provide voter education along with opportunities for University students to get answers to any of their questions surrounding voting in the election, including through Voter Q&A Drop-In Zoom Sessions and “Voting 101” sessions during First Year Seminar classes. The University’s dedicated voting resource page provided a range of resources: scranton.edu/RoyalsVote.

Another key piece of preparation on campus was to ensure that our campus community was able to come together in solidarity to both prepare for the election and to find ways to keep our community engaged as citizens on Election Day and beyond. The Office of Campus Ministries organized “An Ignatian Examen for Civic Life” released on Nov. 2 which can be viewed on The University of Scranton YouTube channel here. On Election Day, the Division of Student Life and Student Government celebrated our campus voters by offering “I Voted” and “First Time Voter” stickers. Students also participated in a social media campaign “Vote Today! Continue to be an Active Citizen Tomorrow!” to share their next steps as citizens now that they cast their ballot. Students were asked to consider one thing to commit to doing to heal our community after this election no matter the outcome and to identify one way that they can continue to care for their neighbor and advocate for the common good. Students could then post responses with #RoyalsVote2020 to social media.

As a part of the University’s post-election activities, the Office of Community and Government Relations, Student Government, and the Political Science Department are collaborating to offer “Election 2020: Analysis and Q&A with the Political Science Department” on Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. This event features Political Science Faculty panelists Dr. Mike Allison, Dr. Jean Harris and Dr. JoyAnna Hopper with moderator Julie Schumacher Cohen, AVP for Community Engagement & Government Affairs. The session will provide University of Scranton students with an overview of what’s happened so far and what can be expected next along with an opportunity to ask questions. Joining information for this session can be found on Royal Sync or by emailing community@scranton.edu.

The Royal Votes initiative has demonstrated the vital role we each play in cultivating a community of understanding, action, and solidarity. As a University, we seek to continue to engage as citizens every day and to work together to be women and men for and with others, not just in word, but in action.