Participate '12

October 01, 2012

The St. John's University PARTICIPATE program is an annual University-wide initiative to promote and increase greater civic awareness, engagement and participation in the political process.

The PARTICIPATE program began during Fall 2008 when students at St. John's became engaged in the historic 2008 Presidential Election. Since that time, the University has maintained and expanded the PARTICIPATE program,sponsoring voter registration drives, candidate forums and other academic lectures and events that promote greater civic engagement and work to create better informed and more activevoters within the University community.

"It's exciting to see so many students involved in pre-election activities," said Kathryn Hutchinson, Ph.D., Vice President for Student Affairs. "Students' engagement in these programs will assist them in becoming informed decision makers on Election Day."

In advance of the 2012 Election, the PARTICIPATE '12 program will host debate watch parties for all of the presidential debates and Meet the Candidates events at both the Queens and Staten Island campuses as well as collaborating with Student Government, Campus Ministry and various student organizations for voter registration efforts and additional programs.

"Young voters (18–29) are a major subset of the electorate and are a critical voting bloc in any election…their voices and votes matter," stated Brian Browne, Assistant Vice President of Government Relations.

Join us in encouraging students to register to vote and become active and informed citizens through Participate '12.

For a complete list of events, visit www.stjohns.edu/participate or follow us on Twitter: @STJ_Participate