Mantella op-ed: Gap remains between students who register to vote and those who cast ballots

President Philomena V. Mantella wrote a guest commentary for Bridge Michigan, detailing the gap between college students registering to vote and casting ballots.

In the article, Mantella touted the progress Grand Valley has made in student voter participation.

Mantella wrote: "At Grand Valley, we have seen what is possible when we approach voter participation intentionally. In the 2014 midterm election, just 14.8% of our eligible students voted. By 2022, participation had climbed to 46.2%, well above the national average of 30.6%.

"Perhaps more telling, between the 2018 and 2022 midterms, student voting nationally declined by approximately 8.5 percentage points. At Grand Valley, it increased by approximately 11 points."

While recognizing there is still work to be done, Mantella urged Grand Valley and other universities to remove barriers to participation and foster the civic knowledge, confidence and sense of responsibility that encourage a lifetime of democratic engagement.

Read the Bridge Michigan guest commentary.