How Warren Wilson is Mobilizing Its Campus This National Voter Registration Day

Today marks National Voter Registration Day (NVRD), and preparations for midterm elections are in full swing at Warren Wilson College (WWC) with workshops, shuttles and parties planned over the next six weeks.

“At Warren Wilson, our educational model pushes us to put our learning and values into action,” Brian Normon, provost and dean of faculty, said. “We understand that democracy is not just a political system or set of rights and obligations; it is an everyday practice. National Voter Registration Day is a perfect opportunity to remind ourselves that active participation in public life is central to a life well lived and contributing to a society bigger than ourselves.”

Taelyn Reid, assistant director of Community and Global Engagement, is leading the charge in voter mobilization at WWC.

As part of Reid’s efforts for NVRD, You Can Vote visited campus to conduct a training for students on how to educate and mobilize WWC to take civic action, understand their rights, and successfully cast their votes.

Additionally, Reid has secured a $1,000 grant from All In Civic Nation to host a Party to the Polls to mobilize the campus community during the midterm elections.

This voter mobilization effort is working in tandem with the institution’s Democracy in Action (DIA) initiative that Dr. Susan Ortiz is leading.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Q: It sounds like you have a really great background for this new mobilization effort you’re leading when it comes to getting folks registered to vote and overall creating awareness about politics and how they affect campus. Would you tell me about the effort that you’re making right now with those initiatives?

A: I assumed the position of what I’m calling Voter Engagement Coordinator. I learned a bit about the history of voter engagement on campus and found a good sense of what we had done in the past. In the past, we worked with the All In Campus Democracy Challenge that is sponsored by Civic Nation. Dr. Ortiz was working on the DIA Grant, and we’ve kind of found some synergy in that space of, like, “Okay, obviously democracy is really broad. What slice of pie in the voter engagement realm do we need to build up?” So, with Dr. Ortiz, I generated what’s called the All In Democracy Challenge plan, and it’s a template that just reflects we should be mobilizing for voter registration as soon as people hit the ground…Western North Carolina Votes Coalition has a lot of different chapters and nonprofits that helped us register voters during new student orientation, during work orientation. You Can Vote North Carolina, a nonpartisan nonprofit, came on September 15 to host a workshop about what our rights are in an election. How do we create what they call the civic habit? I think that’s a really big initiative of DIA as a whole. How do we have this repetitive process that just becomes a habit for us?

Q: Tell me about why you think it’s important that colleges have these initiatives. Why is it important that colleges are encouraging students to be politically active during this time and educated on matters when it comes to the government?

A: I think it’s really important that we usher in students and help them. I think voting is a rite of passage. There are a lot of things that happen when you turn 18, and having a voice in your community in concrete ways through voting is one of those really exciting spaces and also maybe a challenging space to feel confident navigating. I think if colleges don’t create and serve their purpose of equipping people with real-life skills that will help you in your work, in your family life, and in your success. Not just from what you can do in the classroom, but what are you going to do when you’re out there living your life and facing these decisions? So I think when we teach and kind of empower students at our colleges and universities, we’re giving them a sense of direction and, you know, whatever sense of power they have off of this campus. So I also think that whichever of the youngest generations we’re ushering in, if this is the society we’re going to inherit, and there are systems that we inherit, we should understand those systems, and we should be able to take up space.

Q: You have this partnership with WNC Votes, you did this NVRD workshop, what other initiatives are you doing to help fulfill those goals, fulfill those missions?

A: On August 21, I applied for a grant with All In Civic Nation for $1,000 to host Party to the Polls. We received that grant. October 30, we’re going to have a really big event called Party to the Polls. We’re going to have early voting shuttles from the start of early voting on October 15, all the way to the final Saturday for early voting, October 31. But this event is really meant to be a celebration. I’m working with Jay Char, a student on the Sociology Crew, to think about how we can make this a celebration. Because really, when we turn out and we celebrate this process, we’re shedding a new light about [voting]. It’s a stressful season. There’s a lot weighing on us, but there’s a lot of joy in voting, and there’s a lot to feel accomplished about. [We attended] the North Carolina Campus Engagement Voter Summit at Elon University. So myself and some students [went to a] statewide summit with colleges and universities, and that sort of conference is really about equipping all of these students as facilitators in voter empowerment and engagement. When you feel secure in navigating a process, you can teach others. So it doesn’t always have to be, “Oh, my professor is teaching this.” It can be this peer-to-peer knowledge, and going forward, democracy in action.

Q: I’d love to hear more about how students, staff, and faculty can all get involved in this.

A: I think the DIA Working Group is a really good way to get involved. Another way, especially for students to get involved, is participating in SGA. When students invite local people who are running for office, it resonates differently than when the college does it. But faculty, students and staff can definitely get involved in shuttles. If anybody wants a higher level of training, like an individual training, You Can Vote has one-on-one training. I think students can also get involved by making their individual plan to vote. I’m really encouraging people to register to vote here because this is where you’re going to live. I think it’s a really good opportunity for students, staff and faculty to support Buncombe County as a whole as we’re going through this massive process of trying to systematically ensure every vote is received and processed.

Q: You’re very passionate about this. You’re very motivated to do this. I’d love to hear about just your overall goals for this project as a whole.

A: I want to increase campus voting. Based on our participation in some national voting surveys, our campus in previous midterms, maybe 40 to 50% of the campus was voting in the midterms. I think that’s the bare minimum. I would definitely say I want to see between 50 and 70% voter mobilization on this campus. My other goal is to have our campus population turn out during early voting during this general election. Our early voting location is at Bee Tree Fire Station in Swannanoa. During the primary back in March, we didn’t have a direct site in Swannanoa. So if we turn out en masse to the Bee Tree Fire Station in Swannanoa for early voting, that’s going to indicate to the Board of Elections that this is a viable site for early voters to go to. Down the line, [we need to address] the district map for where students vote on election day. It cuts the campus into two precincts. Us navigating having a student population whose addresses change and whose voter registration needs to change is really difficult. I think another goal of mine is to see this campus have the capacity to be an early voting site.