Menlo College’s Dean of Arts and Sciences Expands on Commitment to Engaging Student Voters ahead of 2022 Elections Posted on April 25, 2022January 27, 2025 by menlocollege Dean of Arts & Sciences and Professor of Political Science Melissa Michelson this month launched the Student Vote Research Network (SVRN), an inclusive, collaborative space for scholars, students, advocacy organizations, and community practitioners to come together to grow college student voter engagement through research and programming. Student voter turnout has surged in recent years, doubling from 2014 to 2018, and students voted at nearly the same rate as the general population in the November 2020 election after decades of low rates of participation. The SVRN seeks to grow student civic engagement even further, with a goal of 100% student turnout. Increasing student civic engagement is seen by scholars as crucial to the future of the health of democracy, and to giving younger Americans a voice in political decisions that affect their lives such as student debt, funding for higher education, and the economy. Menlo College Contributes to National Initiatives to Increase Student Voter Turnout Many scholars and organizations have worked to understand student turnout over the past few decades, including the National Study of Learning Voting and Engagement (NSLVE) and other coalition spaces. SVRN brings the conversation together into a single network, in order to cultivate cross-pollination of ideas, research findings, and on-the-ground knowledge from students and practitioners. “We’re looking to bring together all of these individuals and organizations who have been working independently in isolation so that we can be clear on best practices, what we need to know, and what we need to add,” Dean Michelson said. Nearly 1,000 colleges committed to making a plan for achieving 100% student voter participation in the 2022 elections, and the Student Vote Research Network aims to help these institutions achieve their goals. Co-founded by Democracy House, an organization co-founded by Ian Simmons, the Student Vote Research Network will officially launch on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 with an inaugural Workshop on the State of the Student Vote. This will be a collaborative space for dialogue among scholars, students, and advocates dedicated to growing college student voter engagement. Attendees will be able to share knowledge, workshop ongoing projects together, and brainstorm ideas about research initiatives. Mobilization Continues Around Campus in Effort to Increase Voter Participation More locally, a team of 12 students at Menlo College is working with Dean Michelson toward the 100% participation goal, supported by a grant from the San Mateo County Voter Engagement Fund. The initiative is looking to increase voter turnout through one-on-one outreach by student leaders, visual reminders on campus and on social media, use of classroom time to allow students to register, and easily-accessed educational materials. The Menlo College Student Voter Mobilization Plan’s specific activities also include on-campus registration drives in April, as well as a ballot completion festival in mid-May after vote-by-mail ballots arrive. For the past decade, Menlo College has also hosted an on-campus polling place, including options for on-site registration and early voting. President Steven Weiner also recently signed the ALL IN Presidents’ Commitment, a commitment as part of the ALL IN Challenge to reach full student voter registration and voter participation in all elections. These recent activities are the latest in a lineage of political engagement research and activity on college campuses by Dean Michelson. In 2021, Dean Michelson ran a study with the Ask Every Student (AES) initiative, featuring participation from more than 2,200 students at 14 campuses nationwide to support campus efforts to achieve full student voter registration. “During the pandemic and the shift to virtual learning, many campuses were unable to conduct their planned face-to-face voter registration and turnout efforts,” Dean Michelson said. “This study explored how well they were able to pivot to online outreach. We also found persistent points of friction and surprising effects of spillover to families. The results will help guide future efforts, and future studies, as we continue to work toward the goal of 100% participation.” Through this collaboration, Michelson produced ground-breaking scholarship that confirmed the efficacy of the AES program, as well as provided important insights on how to make the program more effective in the future. Menlo College Students Turning Interest in Political Science into Majors and Minors Michelson’s leadership in student voter research and advocacy efforts line up with the College’s recent creation of a Political Science Minor, which officially made its debut in 2021-22. Many Menlo students have created their own Political Science major on campus through the Individualized College Major program, as well. Two of these students, Student Government Association President Rasmia Shuman ‘22 and Latinx Club Treasurer Diana Guardado ‘23, are co-leading the current #MenloTo100 effort. “I have learned that the study of Political Science exists not only to provide students with a form of living after graduation; more importantly, it is intended to educate students on how to advocate and promote the well-being of their community,” Guardado said. “Politics play an important role in every person’s life,” Dean Michelson said. “To educate students on political science is to support advocacy and social justice.” Applying to Menlo CollegeCelebrating Volunteers at Menlo CollegeFocused on Student Success: Menlo College Earns Three New 2022 Top College Rankings About Menlo College Menlo College was established in 1927. It is a small, private, non-profit, four-year, accredited, residential college located in Atherton, California. Menlo College’s location in Silicon Valley, one of the world’s most entrepreneurial and innovative geographical areas, has enabled the college to create a valuable market niche for its students locally — as well as globally. Menlo College cultivates in its students the skills, integrity, and passion to make meaningful contributions in an innovation economy.
