SFU Student-Athletes are "All In" to exercise their right to vote

taking on the competitive goal of getting 100% of eligible student-athletes registered to vote

Loretto, PA (10/21/2020) — Saint Francis University's student-athletes have been focusing on different competitive goals this fall: educating student-athletes on the importance of voting, and getting 100% of eligible student-athletes registered to vote.

In early September, SFU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) launched "SFU is All In," a voter registration and educational campaign. The spark for the initiative came from Men's Basketball player, Ty Stewart, a junior English major from Silver Springs, Maryland. He issued the challenge at the beginning of the academic year to get all of his fellow student-athletes registered to vote and to take the pledge to vote this November. SAAC launched this campaign, to help him meet his goals.

Each team received a roster to sign off on when players completed their registrations. Sarah Ross, Associate Director, Student-Athlete Development and Academic Services, compiled educational resources so that each student-athlete could properly register based on their state requirements. In conjunction with the registration campaign, they shared educational information via social media to help prepare the athletes to vote. The information included how to access mail-in ballots, deadlines for voting, reminders about important events (likes debates), and websites where they could continue to educate themselves to be prepared to vote.

"It's more than just making sure the student-athletes are registered, but making sure they realize how important it is to exercise their right to vote" Ross shared. "For just about all of our student-athletes, this is the first time they have been of age to vote in a presidential election. It is important they learn about the candidates so they are prepared to cast their vote come November 3rd."

SAAC also challenged individuals teams to use their social media accounts to share voting information. All athletes received "Registered" stickers and shared the success in a team picture. A lot of teams shared social media posts about voting information and about personal voting plans.

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