MTSU’s legal team prompted the American Democracy Project to withdraw from the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, a nonpartisan student data organization.
“We feel that it is a form of voter suppression,” Marcus Rosario, the American Democracy president, said.
The American Democracy Project is a nonpartisan initiative that operates across multiple college campuses, educating students about how democracy functions and encouraging civic engagement.
Powered by Tufts University, over 1,000 universities use NSLVE, a nonprofit database that assesses student engagement in the democratic process, identifies and addresses equity gaps in voter participation, provides a teaching resource for classes and serves as outreach materials in admissions. NSLVE is the nation’s largest objective study of college student voting, according to its website.
“I don’t know why the state chose to call it off,” Mary Evins, the former American Democracy Project advisor, said. “I wish they hadn’t because otherwise we can do nothing more than guesstimate.”
Late in the spring semester, MTSU’s Office of University Counsel contacted Amy Sayward, the American Democracy Project’s faculty advisor, instructing her to cease the organization’s involvement with NSLVE, citing but not specifying a new state law, Sayward said.
Sayward and Rosario believe they might have found the legislation responsible for the withdrawal: House Bill 1837.
State Rep. Tim Rudd (R-Murfreesboro) introduced a bill that went into effect in April 2024 that prohibits unrestricted third-party access to data, which could be “recklessly used for commercial and political purposes” without students’ consent, Rudd said.
There are three requirements a higher education institution must maintain to bypass this law. One of which is that a third party must not sell or share the data unless a written agreement exists between the third party and the institution, stating that it will use the information only for its original purpose.
Sayward thinks the bill seems reasonable in theory, but not in practice, since NSLVE has a mandatory written agreement.
For a higher education institution to participate in NSLVE, a university official must sign the document, granting NSLVE access to enrollment data and voting records. The document also clarifies NSLVE’s relationship with its third-party, the National Student Clearinghouse.
A nonprofit organization, the National Student Clearinghouse, provides trusted, authenticated and secure education data insights. The Clearinghouse supplies student enrollment and degree data to NSLVE, which combines this data with public voting records for its college student voting rate study.
“The Clearinghouse agrees that the non-directory personally identifiable information data provided by the Institution may only be used for the study identified in the preceding paragraphs,” the written agreement states.
All records received by NSLVE are de-identified, meaning they contain no personal information from any student. NSLVE does not sell or share the information with outside agencies, according to its website.
Even though the program complies with the bill, Rudd suggested it makes no difference.
“It does not affect students’ ability to participate in the electoral process,” Rudd said. “This was an important step in continued Republican efforts to preserve the freedoms and privacy all Tennesseans hold dear.”
Evins, however, questions the legislature’s sincerity.
“My presumption is they wish to minimize our understanding of that information,” Evins said. “It must suggest that they don’t want us to improve.”
Rosario reflected similar sentiments, adding that the 64-word bill leaves too much room for interpretation.
“That’s one of the things in my time at MTSU and being in American Democracy Project,” Rosario said. “I’ve had to look at bills. A lot of bills that are passed, especially in Tennessee, are very vague, so they can get away with not doing [the] right things.”
Sayward spoke with NSLVE officials, whose identities she did not reveal. They were distressed to learn that MTSU had withdrawn from the program, she said.
“[The NSLVE officials] were more concerned with this perception that NSLVE was doing something it shouldn’t be with the data,” Sayward said.
Tufts’ Office of Information Security reviewed and approved NSLVE’s data management. NSLVE stores data in a cloud-based host that has been certified by an approved certification body to the ISO 27001 standard, an international benchmark for information security.
NSLVE’s data is encrypted, and access is limited to those who are identified, authenticated and specifically approved. NSLVE researchers never have access to individual student data that is not anonymized, according to Tufts.
Tufts also designed NSLVE to comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act requirements regarding directory information, the disclosure of personally identifiable information, and the provision of de-identified records under the Act.
NSLVE does not publish reports publicly. Authorized individuals at institutions receive the reports.
The American Democracy Project now operates without the insight NSLVE provides, but Sayward is still committed to increasing voter participation.
“My goal remains the same, which is 100% of our eligible students voting,” Sayward said. “I just won’t know if I ever get there now.”
To contact the news editor, email [email protected].
For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, and follow us on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines and on X and Instagram at @mtsusidelines. Also, sign up for our weekly newsletter here.
