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Raritan Valley Community College has been awarded a Highly Established Action Plan Seal by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. The seal is awarded to campuses that have worked to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement and graduate engaged voters by building a strong nonpartisan action plan.

RVCC is one of 121 campuses that earned this inaugural recognition for the 2022 election cycle.  It is the only college in New Jersey and one of only six community colleges nationally receiving the award.  

RVCC’s Action Plan focused on strategies that engage students, faculty, administrators, community nonprofit partners, and local election officials in intentional ways to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement and college student voting.  Through curricular and co-curricular activities inside and outside the classroom, the plan encouraged and supported students to be voters by offering voter registration campaigns, training and serving as poll workers, presenting at workshops, sharing election information, and social media messaging.

ALL IN and the American Democracy Project, Campus Vote Project, NASPA Lead Initiative, and the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition created the Strengthening American Democracy Guide to help guide campuses on their journey to graduate democratically engaged students by building effective action plans. In 2019, a rubric based on the guide was released to allow campuses to self-assess the strength of their action plan.

ALL IN provides a confidential score and feedback that helps campuses celebrate and strengthen their action plans. The Highly Established Action Plan Seal recognizes campuses that score at least 31.5 out of 36 possible points on the Strengthening American Democracy rubric.

“Colleges and universities have a responsibility to prepare students to engage meaningfully in our nation’s democracy. The role they play in developing the next generation of voters and shaping our future cannot be understated,” said Dr. Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, Executive Director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “We are proud to recognize Raritan Valley Community College for working to graduate the next generation of voters by developing and implementing a comprehensive, data-informed campus action plan.”  

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. Campuses that join the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge complete a set of action items, with the support of ALL IN staff, to institutionalize nonpartisan civic learning, political engagement, and voter participation on their campus. ALL IN currently engages over 9.8 million students from more than 960 institutions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Campuses can join ALL IN here.

ABOUT ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge:
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) is a national nonpartisan initiative of Civic Nation, a 501(c)(3) organization. ALL IN strives to change civic culture and institutionalize democratic engagement activities and programs on college campuses, making voter participation a defining feature of campus life.

ALL IN, in collaboration with over 960 higher education institutions, seeks to make participation in local, state, and federal elections a social norm; substantially increase the number of college students who are democratically engaged on an ongoing basis, during and between elections, and not just at the polls, and; make educating for democratic engagement on college campuses an accepted and expected part of the culture and curriculum so that students graduate with the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and values needed to be an informed and active citizen.

ABOUT RVCC
Ranked by WalletHub.com and Intelligent.com as the #1 community college in New Jersey, Raritan Valley Community College has been serving as an academic and cultural center for Somerset and Hunterdon County residents for over 50 years. The College has been nationally recognized for its service to the community, environmental stewardship, and commitment to diversity. It is home to  a Planetarium, Science Education Institute and 3M Observatory; a Theatre offering professional performances for all ages; and an Honors College for high achieving students.

The College offers more than 90 associate degrees and certificates, as well as career training and professional development courses. RVCC is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, NJ. For further information, visit www.raritanval.edu.





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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 2, 2023

Media contact: Donna Stolzer, 908-526-1200, ext. 8383

PR #98