Increasing Accessibility for Young Voters
OUR NATIONAL STAFF
The Student Association for Voter Empowerment (SAVE) is a national non-partisan, non-profit organization, founded and run by students, with a mission to increase youth voter turnout by removing access barriers and promoting stronger civic education. Our chapters work with college administrators to institutionalize voter registration, host debates, discussions and town hall forums centered on electoral awareness, coordinate grassroots efforts to reform elections, lead registration programs for local high schools, disseminate voting information and resources, and collaborate with statewide press outlets to bring young voters to a forefront in the media.  In less than a year of existence, we have hired a staff of seven people in our Washington DC office, built over 25 chapters in more than 15 states, held numerous press conferences on youth vote trends, hosted national town hall forums with presidential candidates, directed higher ed-meetings on civic education, been featured in dozens of leading newspapers and media outlets, and formed partnerships with The League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Earth Day Network, Common Cause, and Mobilize.org for a number of key projects. Our board of directors includes:
  • The Honorable Lee Hamilton, Former United States Congressman (IN-9)
  • The Honorable Malcolm Wallop, Former United States Senator (WY)
  • The Honorable John Edward Porter, Former United States Congressman (IL, 10)
  • The Honorable Matthew McHugh, Former United States Congressman (NY, 28)
  • The Honorable Jeri Thomson, Former Secretary of the United States Senate
  • Eleanor Clift, Editor, Newsweek Magazine; Political Contributor, MSNBC
  • The Honorable Sharon Pratt, Former Mayor (District of Columbia)
  • The Honorable James Blanchard, Former Governor (MI)
  • Beatrice Cumming Mayer, Trustee, Sarah Lee Corporation
  • Hilary Shelton, Director and Chief Lobbyist, NAACP Washington Bureau

Currently, we have chapters at 25 colleges and universities across the country; including, but not limited to, the following:

 

-Kenyon College (Gambier, Ohio)

-Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio)

-Colgate University (Hamilton, New York)

-Towson University (Baltimore, Maryland)

-Truman State University (Kirksville, Missouri)

-University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisconsin)

-Haverford College (Haverford, Pennsylvania)

-Georgetown College (Washington, D.C.)

-Purdue University (West Lafayette, Illinois)

-Miami University (Oxford, Ohio)

-William & Mary (Williamsburg, Virginia)

-St. Lawrence University (Canton, New York)

-Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York)

-University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

-Tennessee State University (Nashville, Tennessee)

-University of Iowa (Iowa, City, Iowa)

-University of South Carolina (Columbia, South Carolina)

-Western Washington University (Bellingham, Washington)

-Graceland University (Independence, Missouri)

-Northwood University (Midland, Michigan)

-University of Western Michigan (Kalamazoo, Michigan)

 

The unique aspect of our organization is not only that it is student-led, but that it focuses on a strong educational curriculum in order to supplement traditional get-out-the vote-efforts.  By arming young people with the knowledge to navigate the political process via a commitment to dialogue, issues awareness, and interaction with local government, we hope to create a foundation for life-long participation in the democratic system. Additionally, in response to the variety of cultural and institutional obstacles that seem to stand firmly in the way of fair, open, and truly democratic governance and elections today; SAVE also devotes its time to exploring possible reforms to the American electoral process.

 

SAVE has received wide media coverage since its inception just a few months ago. Since May, SAVE has been featured on Fox News, C-Span, Al-Jazeera English, Voices of America, XM Satellite Radio, and the Discovery Channel as well as quoted by the Associated Press, the Washington Post, the Columbus Dispatch, the Akron Beacon Journal, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Press of Atlantic City, the Palm Beach Post, the Iowa Press Citizen, The Nation, the American Prospect, The Politico, Scripps Howard News Service, The Chronicle for Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed and several other media outlets.

 

We are invested in many other projects throughout the coming months and we look forward to playing a leading part in shaping the youth vote for 2008.

SAVE is non-profit, non-partisan, 501(c)3 organization registered in Washington D.C.

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