Students at Columbia Business School Launch ‘Educator Pledge’ to Promote Student Voting
By Zachey Kliger
In the weeks leading up to the 2018 U.S. midterm elections, Trevor Lee (CBS ’20), Benjamin Guzik (CBS ’20) and Josh Rubin (Yale Law ’20) launched the Educator Pledge, an online pledge that encourages educators to encourage their students to vote.
Lee, along with other Columbia Business School students , re-launched the online pledge this year. Lee hopes to expand its reach in the final weeks before election day.
“We are strictly non-partisan,” said Lee. “We don’t think it is the place of educators to push their views on candidates on their students. Our goal is to make sure students have the information and tools they need in order to cast their vote. To us, as long as the student votes, no matter who it is for, that is a success.”
Over 400 educators from 180 institutions in 45 states signed the pledge in 2018. The list of signees includes college and graduate school professors, high school teachers and administrators. The list also includes prominent educators, such as former Secretary of Education and now-professor Arne Duncan (now at UChicago), former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (now teaching at Georgetown), and former Secretary of State John Kerry (now teaching at Yale).
According to Lee, 16 new professors have signed the pledge in the last week alone, and he anticipates the numbers growing quickly over the next few weeks.
Educator Pledge asks educators who want to contribute to take the following steps:
Sign the pledge and share it with other educators, either directly or on social media using #EducatorPledge.
Refer students to vote.org, which has resources about registering to vote, verifying registration, absentee ballots, early voting and polling places.
Talk to your students about voting in your next class. Consider taking a minute or two at the beginning of your next class to talk about Election Day, the importance of voting this year, and where students can find information about voting.
The Educator Pledge website also offers resources with links on how to register to vote, check registration status, and find your polling location.
In the last midterm election, fewer than 20% of 18-29 year olds voted. Youth voter turnout may be a decisive factor in the outcome of the Presidential election this year.
“Voting is critical for the future of our democracy,” reads the Educator Pledge webpage. “As teachers, professors, school administrators, and staff, we believe that every student who is eligible to vote should have the opportunity to do so. Part of our responsibility as educators is to help young people recognize that their voices matter.”