OSU Department of Leadership and Campus Life receives national recognition

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Vote Week 2016 honored for student engagement

The National Institute for Civil Discourse recently recognized the Department of Leadership and Campus Life (LCL) at Oklahoma State University as the winner of its national Text, Talk, Vote competition, for organizing and coordinating Vote Week 2016 on campus. The week offered a series of programs and events that provided students and members of the Stillwater community with unbiased information about presidential candidates and local political topics to prepare for election day in November.

“Vote Week included eight different events and activities geared toward increasing voter registration, education and turnout among OSU students,” said Dawson Metcalf, one of the event coordinators. “Thanks to this initiative, more than 300 students were registered to vote and well over 400 students participated in the various programs.”

Text, Talk, Vote is a competition sponsored by the National Institute of Civil Discourse, which promotes the use of text messaging to facilitate conversations about civic engagement. Small groups are encouraged to get together and text the information number provided. The institute follows up with texts on a series of questions that guide the groups through a conversation about political issues on a national and local level.

LCL submitted its marketing work on Voter Week  and was declared the winner for having the most participation, compared to all other group entries nationwide.  In addition to national recognition, LCL was awarded $1,000, which will be reinvested into programs and services offered by the department.

With more than 475 student organizations on the OSU campus, the Student Union plays a fundamental role in their operations and houses the Department of Leadership & Campus Life and its organizations. The department builds campus communities and enhances the academic experience through a variety of cultural, educational, leadership, service, social and recreational programs. For more information about the Department of Leadership and Campus Life, visit lcl.okstate.edu.