New London ― The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, an initiative from the nonprofit Civic Nation to increase civic engagement on college campuses, has recognized Connecticut College as part of its inaugural ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting program.

Connecticut College was one of 394 schools recognized nationwide and four in Connecticut, also including Quinnipiac University, Trinity College and Wesleyan University.

The nonpartisan Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, based at Tufts University, estimates that 27% of people ages 18 to 29 voted this election, making it the second-highest youth voter turnout for a midterm in nearly three decades.

The requirements for ALL IN recognized campuses included submitting a 2022 democratic engagement plan and sharing a 2020 report with campus voting data. The report comes from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, which gets data from matching enrollment records with public voting files.

According to the college’s action plan, implemented by its Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy, 50.8% of registered students and 41.5% of students overall voted in 2018. The voting rate for women was 15 percentage points higher than for men, a disparity Conn said it would attempt to address through targeted programming and partnerships.

Rebecca McCue, director of community engagement and Holleran Center operations, said Connecticut College doesn’t have 2022 numbers yet. The plan looks at the voting landscape in 2018 and 2020 and lays out where the college wants to go from there.

“We’ve always done voter registration, but it hasn’t been as comprehensive as it has been in the last couple years,” McCue said.

Emma Pyles, an ambassador for the Holleran Center’s nonpartisan Camels Vote initiative, said in addition to students setting up information tables on National Voter Registration Day, there have been four other tabling events throughout the semester at the library or college center.

McCue and Pyles said some of the groups they have gotten involved include CC Democrats, CC Republicans & Conservatives, Student Government Association, the Women in Politics club, Center for the Critical Study of Race and Ethnicity, and Connecticut College Athletics.

e.moser@theday.com