Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan at the height of the civil rights movement in 1964. The three young men were planning on spending their summer participating in the Freedom Summer project, which sought to register African Americans to vote in Mississippi. Dr. Carolyn Goodman, Andrew’s mother, dedicated her life to activism and upholding the ideals that her 20-year old-son and compatriots died for. Carolyn and her husband Robert started the Andrew Goodman Foundation (AGF) in 1966 to keep Andrew’s legacy alive and empower others to become active participants in our democracy.
The AGF is focused on creating systemic change, and does so by supporting, mentoring, and training over 100 Ambassadors on college campuses across the country. Ambassadors are college students committed to bringing down barriers to voting, registering voters, and addressing social justice issues in their communities. The AGF works with campuses across 25 states and reaches one million students through the Vote Everywhere Program. In a time where the right to vote is constantly being attacked, it has never been more important to address discrepancies in voting rights and protect student voters.
I have been an Ambassador to the AGF since the fall of 2018 and have helped increase Binghamton University’s voter registration and participation exponentially. I have seen first-hand the impact that youth engagement facilitates, and truly believe that civic engagement is the key to ensuring the well-being of our country. The Vote Everywhere Program is very successful in achieving its mission and has made substantial change in many states.
One of the more recent wins initiated by Vote Everywhere Ambassadors happened in Florida. The state previously did not allow early voting sites to be located on college campuses, thereby disenfranchising thousands of college students. Along with the help of the AGF’s legal team, the Ambassadors were able to sue the state and change the law. As a result of this change 60,000 individuals cast a ballot from an early voting site on a college or university campus in Florida during the 2018 General Election.
New York is home to the largest number of AGF affiliated campuses per state in their network. The schools include: Bard College, Binghamton University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Stony Brook University, SUNY Geneseo, and Queens College (Andrew Goodman’s alma mater). Binghamton became a partner campus in 2014 and has benefited greatly from the training, resources, and support provided by the AGF.
The numbers speak for themselves; in 2012, prior to the partnership, Binghamton’s student voting rate was 38.6%. The voting rate increased by over 10% in 2016, an increase that was nationally recognized. Although this campus has made strides in improving its voter engagement, there is still a lot of work to do, and we are facing unprecedented challenges to getting out the vote due to COVID-19.
The pandemic has caused haphazard changes to our system including election dates being moved, voter registration deadlines being moved, students being abruptly displaced, and widespread uncertainty about upcoming elections. Voter disenfranchisement thrives in times like this. These struggles are not unique to our campus and are affecting college students around the country. AGF Ambassadors will require more support from the organization heading into the 2020 election season, but the AGF will have fewer opportunities to host fundraising events as a result of the pandemic.
We have already seen the catalytic impact that COVID-19 has on voter suppression through the case of Wisconsin's primary election. Their primary was held as normal in spite of the pandemic, requiring voters to potentially risk their lives, and the lives of their loved ones, to exercise their right to vote. What happened is Wisconsin is unjust and must not be replicated. Civic engagement is needed now more than ever to prevent more instances of excessive barriers to voting in consequence of COVID-19.
It is more critical than ever to stand up for safe, accessible, fair, and inclusive elections. The 2020 election season is sure to bring additional civil rights challenges to light. I hope you will consider supporting the AGF and Vote Everywhere Ambassadors in their continued work towards defending the most fundamental of our democratic institutions, voting.
-Sophia Geringswald
References
Institute for Democracy & Higher Education: National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (2016). 2012 & 2016 NSLVE Campus Report. Medford, MA.
Newsome, M. & Sasser, M. (2019, September 17). Equal access matters: Florida students turn out at on-campus early voting locations in 2018. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/civicnation/2019/09/17/equal-access-matters-florida-students-turn-out-at-on-campus-early-voting-locations-in-2018/#29a2c83b5d9d
The Andrew Goodman Foundation, (2020). https://andrewgoodman.org/
Given everything currently happening in the United States, I think there is a very just reason for this foundation to receive our due attention. Voting is a fundamental right in all democracies, yet due to COVID-19 there will be an even greater number of disenfranchised voters than there already are in the US this election cycle. According to a study conducted by Pew Research Center, in 2016, under 56% of the voting age population in the US cast ballots for the 2016 presidential election, putting it in 26th place on the list complied from the research (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/21/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/).
ReplyDeleteAs Sophia mentioned, Wisconsin’s primary had an even lower turnout, due to voter suppression caused by COVID-19. Unfortunately, it appears as though the United States government will not be doing to correct this injustice, and might even be actively encouraging it. That is why the work of organizations like The Andrew Goodman Foundation is so important—it helps to keep the democracy running even when the institutions that are supposed to do not. I look forward to hearing your presentation on it, especially in light of this pandemic.
Sabrina Reba
Thank you for showing us this organization Sophia! Voting is especially important for Black people and People of color to vote and have their voices heard. In a coronavirus world, it is easy for nefarious politicians to force people to choose between their lives and their constitutional rights. The Andrew Goodman Foundation is doing great work systemically making the change with college students and through them, changing the community for the better. When the younger demographic has their voice heard in elections, they can make great change. One could only look at the Vietnam war and the 26th amendment to see why. I believe that complacency in a time like this only hurts us more as we grow older as these changes affect us and can greatly impact our lives. Thankfully Binghamton allows us to vote on campus but as you have said, some colleges disenfranchise lots of college students by not providing voting sites on campus. We all have a civic duty to be engaged as citizens in this country and to ask college students to go out of their way is difficult. However, this is our future, and leaving it in the uncertain hands of the unworthy is worse than not voting at all. I hope that through the Andrew Goodman Foundation, people can finally have their voices heard and be the change in their community
ReplyDelete-Zaria
Hey Sophia! You brought an issue I’ve been facing with voting as a student to light. I recognize the responsibility of voting in our democracy for systemic change, however, the feeling of being displaced from home and schoolwork has made voting an afterthought. The power of AGF’s Vote Everywhere Program on campuses as well as the work of Ambassadors is significant in reeling in educated individuals to vote. As many students learn about our nation’s domestic and foreign affairs, we fail to utilize our power to vote to rewrite history. Its shown throughout many student-held demonstrations that students hold a huge amount of power through unification. I recall this one professor during my freshman year that gave students extra points on their exams if they came in with their “I Voted” stickers. Similarly, as you mentioned, Ambassadors seek to empower students to vote and with social distancing, this empowerment becomes second to other issues students face. However, it’s important to observe how situations are dealt with by our nation’s leaders and vote accordingly to agendas that would best benefit the people.
ReplyDelete