In a comprehensive effort to highlight the various ways students can participate in the upcoming election, Stony Brook University's Presidential Election Planning and Coordination Committee (PEPCC) is offering multiple resources and engagement opportunities on campus.
While the Center for Civic Justice (CCJ) primarily handles co-curricular civic engagement programming, PEPCC was introduced in 2020 to bring together partners outside of Student Affairs, including faculty, staff, students, undergraduate student government, and graduate student government. Since then, PEPCC has enhanced existing efforts and created new education and outreach outlets across campus, fostering an energy around democratic engagement and civic learning with an emphasis on presidential election cycles.
“I think this is an unprecedented election in a lot of ways, and also for many of our students, their first time ever voting,” said Ashley Liegi, assistant director for the Center for Civic Justice and co-chair of PEPCC. “Some of our students are a little bit nervous or anxious to vote for the first time, so it’s our goal to make the process as approachable as possible.”
Liegi shares chair duties with Emily Snyder, director of Student Community Development. Together they lead a 30-member team representing the entire university. “PEPCC’s composition was carefully curated in order to support the execution of an ambitious strategic plan for the 2024 election season,” said Liegi.
“The Presidential Election Planning and Coordination Committee has contributed to the development of high-quality, high-impact educational and social experiences to help us meet the needs of our diverse and dynamic campus community,” added Snyder.
PEPCC kicked off its slate of events on September 10 with a watch party for the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. The event was attended by more than 240 students and co-hosted by College Democrats, College Republicans, Political Science Society, and BridgeUSA’s Stony Brook chapter.
“Our political student organizations are really excited to get involved and are helpful in cross-promoting non-partisan and intentionally bipartisan programming,” said Liegi. “This event was a great way to kick off the election season. All of our students were really engaged. We had members from both political parties present, and a lot of collaborative work went into it.”
Liegi added that both party organizations are willing to work together to get students engaged, registered, and voting. “It’s been a pleasure to work with the presidents of both organizations to really get the message out that we ultimately want our students to be active in the election season regardless of what their political views are.”
“Our priority is to make sure our students are well informed as they prepare to voice their vote across the entirety of their ballot,” said Snyder. “Involving campus partners has been integral to this effort. The colleagues and students involved with PEPCC have contributed valuable multidisciplinary perspectives as well as a comprehensive understanding of who our students are and what will resonate with them as they participate in this important civic milestone.”
PEPCC hosted a campus National Voter Registration Day Drive on September 18 aimed at getting people registered to vote. Attendees had opportunities such as registering to vote or confirming if their voter registration is active; applying for absentee ballots; learning about important deadlines; including how early voting works.
“I registered to vote about two years ago and I received an email shortly after saying there was a mistake I needed correcting,” said Evangeline Tsevis—a junior from Queens majoring in psychology & linguistics—“But I felt intimidated going into CCJ office until hearing about this event which made everything easier thanks largely due friendliness/helpfulness displayed throughout form filling process."
PEPCC also created Presidential Election Guidebook website serving central hub containing vital information/resources catering towards staff/faculty alike covering wide array topics relevant elections cycle ensuring everyone stays informed/engaged throughout process even amidst challenges posed COVID pandemic initially curtailing group's earlier initiatives forcing many activities transition hybrid/virtual formats reducing overall engagement levels experienced compared pre-pandemic times but recent years have seen return increased physical participation evident example August orientation alone yielding over thousand new registrations among commuter transfers according statements provided by Liegi who noted significant uptick general attendance observed subsequent events likely attributable partly record incoming class size resulting greater overall turnout likelihood seeing higher number individuals casting votes person compared previous cycle characterized heavy reliance mail-in ballots instead"
“This work doesn’t happen in vacuum hence importance having dedicated team comprising faculty/staff/students invested core facets these efforts — voter registration education mobilization — crucial achieving desired outcomes," concluded Snyder emphasizing collective responsibility shared among all stakeholders involved ensuring broad-based success ongoing initiatives aimed cultivating lifelong voters within democratic framework society at large ultimately benefiting wider community through sustained commitment promoting civic awareness active participation critical issues shaping future course nation