Centralia College has been awarded a Bronze Seal for its efforts to increase nonpartisan student voter participation in the 2020 presidential election.
The Bronze Seal was awarded to campuses that achieved nonpartisan student voter participation of 50 to 60%. In 2020, Centralia College’s voter participation was 57.2%, up 9% from 2016.
“This award honors the efforts of the last three groups of student governments,” said Shelley Bannish, director of student life. “Over the last three years, the students have held several voter registration events every year. They’ve hosted in-person and online citizenship presentations from national speakers. And, during the pandemic, they reached out to students via social media to encourage voting and participation. It’s been an ongoing effort.”
The Bronze Seal designation is a result of Centralia College’s participation in the national ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, said the college in a news release. Centralia College was one of 13 Washington colleges competing and one of only two two-year colleges, according to the news release. Nationally, more than 840 colleges and universities and more than 9.1 million students participated.
Centralia College also participated in the Washington Voter Challenge, a statewide competition. The results of the state awards will be announced in December.
