UTSA amplifies voter registration efforts ahead of 2024 general election

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 — As the country gears up for the 2024 general election in November, there will be multiple opportunities for eligible UTSA students, faculty and staff to register to vote or check their voter registration status on campus before the Monday, October 7 deadline.

Historically, the UTSA community has actively participated in elections. In the last U.S. presidential election in 2020, 85% of eligible UTSA students were registered to vote, with approximately 62% participating in the election, according to a report by the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement.

For the 2024 presidential election, UTSA has set an ambitious goal: to have 90% of eligible students registered to vote and to have at least 65% of those registered casting their votes. The November 2024 general election begins with early voting from Monday, October 21 to Friday, November 1 and election day is Tuesday, November 5.

To achieve these goals, the UTSA Center for Civic and Community-Engaged Leadership is spearheading a comprehensive, nonpartisan civic action plan that promotes voter registration and education across the university.

As part of these efforts, the center will hold voter registration events on National Voter Registration Day, Tuesday, September 17, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in front of the McKinney Humanities Building on the UTSA Main Campus, and from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Buena Vista Street Building at the UTSA Downtown Campus.

“Civic engagement is integral to UTSA’s mission of preparing the next generation of engaged citizens.”

There will also be multiple chances to register to vote on campus with approved nonpartisan community partners like MOVE Texas, NextGen America and Radical Registrars, who are planning to visit UTSA campuses regularly before the October 7 deadline.

Volunteer Deputy Registrars will be available to help eligible Roadrunners register to vote in Bexar County and to provide information about voter eligibility and the registration process.  They will also help students verify their registration status and guide those living in UTSA housing on how to properly register with the correct on-campus residential address for their voter registration certificates.

“Civic engagement is integral to UTSA’s mission of preparing the next generation of engaged citizens,” said Maria Alejandro, director of the Center for Civic and Community-Engaged Leadership. “We are proud of our collective work to provide students with experiential civic capacity-building learning opportunities that will help them develop into compassionate leaders within their communities and workplaces.”

The UTSA Center for Civic and Community-Engaged Leadership develops and implements UTSA’s civic action plan in cooperation with the RowdyVOTES Community of Practice, a coalition of university and community partners that work together to support nonpartisan democratic engagement on campus.

The center empowers students, faculty, and staff to engage in meaningful, community-based experiential learning and scholarship. Through its various programs, the center helps develop leaders who are committed to participatory and asset-based approaches to community impact, ultimately contributing to the public good.

As a result of the center’s efforts, UTSA has been recognized multiple times by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a national nonprofit organization that honors higher education institutions for their commitment to nonpartisan student engagement in democracy.

The Center for Civic and Community-Engaged Leadership is one of seven units within Career-Engaged Learning, which provides students experiential learning opportunities on campus and in the community. This area of the university drives UTSA's Classroom to Career Initiative by collaborating with partners across the university and in San Antonio to develop and offer intentional programming and services that build career-ready Roadrunners.

— KC Gonzalez