Stetson named one of ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses

Andrea Mujica December 8, 2024
From left to right: Stetson Votes Civic Fellows Carlissa Gudino, Kennedy Butler, Marinelly De Jesus and Yamilla Cook, advisor Kevin Winchell and director Victoria Ramon. (Not pictured: Katie Eudy).

Stetson recently was named to the 2024 ALL IN Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting list on Tuesday, Nov. 19, by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.

“We are grateful for this recognition by ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, and for all the support they give to campuses to get every student out to vote in every election,” said Kevin Winchell, director of Community Engagement. “People who vote in their first election are 30% more likely to become engaged, lifelong voters, so every institution of higher education has a responsibility to our society and democracy to inculcate habits of voting at this critical time in our students’ lives.”

According to its website, the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge aims to empower “colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement.”

Through the nonpartisan, values driven organization Stetson Votes, Winchell and the student Civic Fellows work to promote nonpartisan voter registration, voter education, vote by mail enrollment and voter turnout to all members of the Stetson Community.

During Election Day, Stetson Votes offered rides to the polls and helped answer any questions voters may have had during the voting process.

“We pride ourselves on having one of the most effective and robust nonpartisan student political engagement programs in the country,” he said. “This work is led by our students, who made over 6,000 contacts with other Stetson students through texts, calls, emails, DMs, canvassing, and tabling this election cycle.”

Thanks to funding from Ask Every Student and the Contigo Fund, Stetson Votes had a full-paid student staff for the first time this election cycle in charge of leading all the election year programming and outreach efforts.

“We couldn’t have done this work without the support of Ask Every Student and the Contigo Fund, and we will spend time leading up to the 2026 cycle focusing on identifying other resources to institutionalize these student positions,” Winchell said. “More than ever, motivating people to vote has become a relational endeavor, so funding this kind of peer-to-peer student outreach will remain critical in 2026 and beyond.”

– Andrea Mujica