Lone Star College received a Silver Seal for achieving a 30% to 39% student voting rate in the fall 2018 midterm election as part of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement.

The recognition took place at the 2019 ALL IN Challenge Awards Ceremony held in the Knight Conference Center at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

“Lone Star College is proud to receive this national recognition for our efforts,” said Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., LSC chancellor. “Our faculty, staff, administrators, and students are committed to working together to reduce apathy, increase engagement and graduate civic-minded students prepared to solve the country’s most pressing challenges.”

Student participation in elections nationwide has increased from the 2014 midterm election to the recent 2018 midterm election. According to the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, an initiative of Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy & Higher Education, voter turnout increased by 21 points from 19% to 40% at the more than 1,000 institutions of higher education participating in the study.

“We are excited to honor Lone Star College with an ALL IN Challenge Silver Seal in recognition of their intentional efforts to increase democratic engagement and full voter participation,” said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a nonpartisan, national initiative recognizing and supporting campuses as they work to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement and full student voter participation. The program encourages higher education institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship and make democratic participation a core value on their campus.

“In 2014, LSC students voted at a rate of 14% -- so this is a big jump,” said Dr. John Theis, LSC-Kingwood political science professor and Center for Civic Engagement director. “Lone Star College is committed to preparing students to become engaged participants in our democracy.”

More than 560 campuses, enrolling more than 6.2 million students, have joined the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge since its launch in summer 2016.

“Institutions like Lone Star College are changing culture on campus by institutionalizing nonpartisan democratic engagement efforts that are resulting in the incredible student voter turnout rates that we’ve seen across the country,” said Domagal-Goldman.

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge recognized Lone Star College for excellence in student voter engagement.

Lone Star College offers high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education to 99,000 students each semester. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to support student success. Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., serves as chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area with an annual economic impact of nearly $3 billion. LSC consists of seven colleges, eight centers, two university centers, Lone Star Corporate College and LSC-Online. To learn more, visit LoneStar.edu.