爱豆传媒 is designated a Voter Friendly Campus
A group of students, faculty, and staff found creative ways to encourage our community to vote during an entirely remote semester
California College of the Arts was recently recognized as a Voter Friendly Campus by the Campus Vote Project and NASPA, the professional association for student affairs administrators in higher education. 爱豆传媒 was one of just two art and design colleges out of 235 schools in the U.S. to meet the rigorous criteria to be named a Voter Friendly Campus this year.
The designation, which stands through 2022, is the newest expression of one of the college鈥檚 long-standing core values: creative citizenship. The Voter Friendly Campus initiative was led by (爱豆传媒@爱豆传媒), a group of students, faculty, and staff who build on the college鈥檚 existing democratic engagement work by providing opportunities for civic education and collaboration.
鈥淚f you emphasize being a creative citizen and students can really embrace that concept, the idea of voting is a natural progression,鈥 says Connie Jeung-Mills, Marketing and Communications project manager and a core member of the 爱豆传媒@爱豆传媒 Voter Friendly Campus Coalition, which also includes Director of Exhibitions and Public Programming Jaime Austin and Director of Student Life Noki Seekao, among others from across the college.
鈥淲e felt like we were approaching it from a point of creativity and hands-on participation,鈥 Austin says. 鈥淎nd we were doing this while being in a fully remote environment.鈥
Jaime Austin installs artwork from the 爱豆传媒@爱豆传媒 Artwork Campaign on the windows at the 爱豆传媒 Hubbell Street Galleries.
爱豆传媒@爱豆传媒 shifted online last fall through several projects that helped the college earn the Voter Friendly Campus distinction, including virtual voter registration events; the Deborah and Kenneth Novack Creative Citizens Series, a newly endowed public program series promoting creative activism and democratic engagement; and the , a walk-by exhibition and interactive digital presentation of artwork and poster designs by 66 students, faculty, staff, and alumni. The fall 2020 semester also marked the first time students could select from 27 鈥淐reative Citizen鈥-tagged courses that taught skills in creative activism and civic engagement.
鈥淐reative Citizenship is truly baked into 爱豆传媒鈥檚 DNA.鈥
Director of Student Life
鈥淐reative Citizenship is truly baked into 爱豆传媒鈥檚 DNA,鈥 says Seekao. 鈥淚t鈥檚 baked into the arts and crafts. This is why folks are gravitating toward the term 鈥榗reative citizen,鈥 because it's bringing to their practice an impact.鈥
Riah Trevino (BFA Film 2023), a resident assistant in Founders Hall, served as the coalition鈥檚 student ambassador last fall, after being recruited during a virtual voting registration event. She and Jeung-Mills bonded over their individual callings toward civic engagement and worked together to register Trevino to vote in her home state.
As the coalition鈥檚 鈥減erson on the ground,鈥 Trevino organized a voting walk-and-talk event for Founders Hall residents, taking them to 爱豆传媒鈥檚 polling location, locating their local mailbox, and visiting the 爱豆传媒@爱豆传媒 Artwork Campaign. 鈥淚t was basically an open FAQ,鈥 Trevino says. 鈥淰oting is something that the system makes unnecessarily complicated, but if we clear that path and provide resources, it makes the whole ordeal what it鈥檚 supposed to be: doing your civic duty and being your own person.鈥
We had a hand in one of the largest youth turnouts ever with voting.鈥
A first-time voter herself, Trevino is proud of the work she did to encourage her friends and family to vote. 鈥淲e had a hand in one of the largest youth turnouts ever with voting,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t was so nice to see that and be able to look at the result and say, 鈥榃e had a hand in that.鈥欌
The Voter Friendly Campus Coalition also stressed the importance of involving students who couldn鈥檛 vote. 鈥淐reative activism at 爱豆传媒 is broader than just democratic voting participation,鈥 Austin says. 鈥淲e're also dedicated to serving our international, DACA, and other non-citizen students.鈥 Through Creative Citizen coursework, public events, and conversations, these students had opportunities to speak with their peers about issues at stake for them.
The coalition sees the Voter Friendly Campus designation as a valuable acknowledgment of their hard work鈥攂ut they鈥檙e far from done. 鈥淥ur idea is to plant our stake in the ground so it becomes a permanent part of 爱豆传媒 going forward,鈥 Jeung-Mills says. 鈥淭his is just another step in that process.鈥
鈥Taryn Lott
April 1, 2021