ALL IN Awards Day honored Simmons for excellence in nonpartisan student voter engagement and campus turnout in the 2022 Midterm Elections. Specifically, Simmons received the award for 2022 Boston Votes Highest Voting Rate: Four-Year Institution. On September 21, members of the Simmons community received in-person recognition at the Boston and Massachusetts Campus Voting Summit, held at Harvard University.
With less than a month to go before the November 2024 presidential election, ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL INN) has recognized Simmons University for its nonpartisan democratic engagement efforts that fostered high levels of student voter engagement in the 2022 midterm elections. Simmons received the award for 2022 Boston Votes Highest Voting Rate: Four-Year Institution, reflecting the University’s commitment to ensuring that nonpartisan democratic engagement is a defining feature of campus life.
ALL IN empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. Simmons was recognized alongside more than 500 campuses using data from Tuft University’s National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE), which found that colleges and universities had the second-highest voter turnout among students in a midterm election since NSLVE began measuring this data. Simmons earned a Gold Seal from ALL IN for its high campus voting rate. View the full list of campus award winners.
Moreover, in 2022, ALL IN recognized Simmons, alongside 394 other colleges and universities, as Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting.
For Simmons President Lynn Perry Wooten, this recognition embodies the University’s mission of educating the next generation of leaders. “Simmons was founded for equality 125 years ago, and civic engagement is a core part of our values,” she says. “Simmons students understand the importance of engaging in our democratic society, and we are pleased to be honored with this recognition, which also complements the other leadership work underway at our institution.”
In June, Simmons became one of just 25 U.S. colleges and universities — and the only women’s-centered college — to receive the first Carnegie Leadership for Public Purpose Classification, which recognizes institutions that have committed to campus-wide efforts to advance leadership in pursuit of public goods like justice, equity, diversity, and liberty.
“The ALL IN Awards were created to celebrate nonpartisan democratic engagement and the outstanding campus voter registration and turnout rates achieved by our ALL IN campuses. Ahead of the 2024 elections, ALL IN campuses are ready to build on the momentum from 2022 to ensure their communities are ready to make an even bigger impact this fall,” said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, Executive Director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “ALL IN is proud to celebrate and honor top-performing campuses, like Simmons, who demonstrate that nonpartisan student voter engagement is possible and effective.”
Members of the Simmons community received in-person recognition at the Boston and Massachusetts Campus Voting Summit, held at Harvard University on September 21. According to Dr. Meghan Doran, Director of the Stephen D. London Center for Community Engagement and Social Justice at Simmons, “This award is a recognition of what we in the Simmons community have long known: Simmons students are highly engaged in the democratic process — a trend we expect to see in the upcoming election as well."
“It was so insightful to learn about different initiatives from our peers at other schools,” said political science major Helena Saldivar-Mieres ’25, another Summit attendee. “Yes, student organizations and campus partners put so much effort into driving student civic engagement. But I truly think that's just how we as Simmons students are wired. We're so eager and ready to participate and make our voices known — that day was one of the times I was most proud of being a Simmons student.”
More than 1,060 institutions enrolling more than 10 million students participate in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, which supports colleges and universities in achieving excellence in nonpartisan student voter engagement. Campuses can join ALL IN via their website.