On or before November 5, millions of people will vote to choose the next president of the United States. In response, the College recently launched Barnard Votes — its very own voting resource — to help students navigate any uncertainties about the process.
Barnard Votes is a coordinated effort of student leadership, faculty, staff, and the Office of Community Engagement & Inclusion (CEI). It has organized community and campus events — from debate watch parties to a Broadway show — informing students about the various ways to vote, registering students to vote across different states, and communicating the issues at stake this election cycle. CEI’s organizing initiatives made an early impact during the New Student Orientation Program (NSOP) in August, during which the office conducted eight new voting workshops for incoming students.
Apart from the events hosted on- and off- campus, Barnard Votes has also secured volunteers from the College’s Human Resources Department to notarize absentee ballots — a requirement for ballots to be counted in some states. In addition, through the weekly, student-organized Postcards for Democracy sessions, 1,500 postcards will be sent to registered voters in states with restrictions on voting, as reminders to cast a ballot early and with a photo ID.
“Barnard enjoys a long history of its community participating in the culture of democracy,” said Mary Rocco, CEI’s director of engaged scholarship.
Read below to learn more about how the campus events organized by Barnard Votes are ramping up student turnout this upcoming election.
Debate Watch Party With the Athena Center and CEI
On September 10, the Athena Center for Leadership and CEI invited students to watch the first and only presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Following the debate, students heard expert commentary from Kimberly Peeler-Allen, co-founder of Higher Heights, a national organization that works to politically empower Black women. Held inside the Milstein Center for Teaching and Learning, the event was a chance for community members to watch — while enjoying complimentary pizza — as the two front-runners made their appeals for office.
“Empowering Barnard students with tools to navigate the political landscape is crucial, especially as many are voting for the first time,” said Umbreen Bhatti ’00, the Constant Hess Williams ’66 Director of the Athena Center for Leadership. “Our students bring passion and a desire to drive change but benefit from discourse and dialogue that can help them to make informed decisions. By supporting their journey into civic engagement, we’re not only helping them shape their futures but also strengthening the foundations of our democracy. Athena is honored to be a part of that.”
The Athena Center and CEI hosted a similar event for the vice presidential debate — between candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Walz — on October 1. The event was planned and organized by Rocco and Laidlaw Scholar Jasmine Gates ’25.
Voter Registration on Futter Field
For National Voter Registration Day (September 17), Barnard Votes set up a table on Futter Field to sign students up to vote, to educate them about the electoral process, and to share copies of the U.S. Constitution.
Constitution Day on Broadway
On September 17, students caught a performance of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Suffs.
The show centers the historical events that led up to the ratification of the 19th Amendment and the stories of the “suffs” — or suffragettes — who paved the way for women to have the right to vote. Students were reminded that their ability to engage in democratic processes, such as voting, is the culmination of decades-long political battles fought by members of the previous generations — a number of whom attended Barnard — and to continue their tradition of sparking social change.
“Barnard has a long tradition of electoral organizing,” said Rocco. “In 2020, 91% of eligible students were registered to vote, with a 78% turnout. We plan to break the record this year.”
Student-Run Voting at Columbia
ColumbiaVotes, a student-run voting rights initiative at Columbia, collaborated with CEI on September 23 to welcome guest speakers for a discussion on the upcoming election.
The panel included Sara Hadad, chief campaigns officer of Run for Something; Sarah Batchu ’16, a City Council candidate in New York City; Michael G. Miller, assistant professor of political science at Barnard and an analyst for the Fox News Decision Desk; and Mabel Tso, deputy director of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Campaign of the NYCLU.
NSOP’s New Voter Workshops
CEI hosted eight workshops for first-time voters during NSOP in August to answer student questions about how to register and where to vote. Many students preregistered in their home states prior to turning 18 and were automatically moved to registered status once they were age-appropriate. Hosted by Rocco, the workshops included Barnard students who chose to vote in their home states and requested information about absentee ballots and vote-by-mail for their specific states.
Trigger Planting 2.0 Exhibition in the Milstein Center
Trigger Planting 2.0 opened for viewing on October 9 in the lobby of the Milstein Center and in planting beds outside the Diana Center. The exhibit, which includes a large map of a post-Roe United States, is made up of abortifacient plants, along with student-made posters on data and research drawn from national and international sources examining the collapse in abortion care access following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022. The exhibit will remain on campus until May 2025.
The exhibit — which was brought to the College by professor of practice in architecture Kadambari Baxi and collaborators Maureen Connor and Landon Newton — offers an educational and environmental approach to understanding the impact of a lack of federal protection for abortion care as well as modes of resilience in self-managed reproductive healthcare.
“This exhibition seeks to inspire a conversation about the impact of abortion access legislation on real people,” said the exhibition’s curator Miriam Neptune, the director of exhibitions, programming, and public engagement for the Milstein Center Library.
—TARA TERRANOVA ’24
