Story by Cooper Halk / Contributing Writer
Photos courtesy of Cat Curtis
Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett presented Middle Tennessee State University with the top award on Thursday for winning the 2019 Tennessee College Voter Registration Competition.
The award was presented to Student Government Association President Delanie McDonald in the Student Union Parliamentary Room.
The competition, which took place in September for National Voter Registration Month, included 48 schools from across Tennessee. Over 2,000 students registered, including 381 new voters from MTSU.
MTSU was named the top four-year public university, along with Carson-Newman University and Northeast State Community College.
“MTSU is honored to receive such a statewide recognition,” said SGA President McDonald. “A key value within the university’s True Blue Pledge is being engaged within our community, and voting is one of the most effective ways to participate in that civic responsibility.”
Mary Evins, an associate research professor for MTSU’s University Honors College and coordinator for the campus chapter of the American Democracy Project, is proud of the initiative taken by the students at MTSU.
“We’re so glad to have a visible, proactive, energized presence on our campus that emphasizes the importance of voter registration and voting,” said Evins. “Particularly for the many MTSU students who are engaging in this precious American right and duty for the very first time.”
MTSU also continues its “True Blue Voter” initiative, a partnership with the Rutherford County Election Commission intended to boost voter registration and awareness.
The 2020 election season begins on March 3 with presidential, state and county primaries.
To contact News Editor Savannah Meade, email [email protected].
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