Raritan Valley Community College student Nicholas Gallo of Ringoes has been recognized nationally as part of the 2024 ALL IN Student Voting Honor Roll.
The announcement was made April 24 by The Pray Family Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement at RVCC and the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN).
The 2024 ALL IN Student Voting Honor Roll awards college students doing outstanding work to advance nonpartisan democratic engagement at participating campuses.
Gallo, who is graduating in May, joins a group of 137 students recognized for their voter registration, education, and turnout efforts during the 2023 elections, which featured critical ballot measures and local and state races.
While at RVCC, the Liberal Arts major served as the executive vice president of the Student Government Association. He also chaired the RVotes Matter Campaign on campus, which provided students with the tools and resources to become and remain engaged learners.
Lori Moog, RVCC’s director of Service Learning and Community Outreach, congratulated Gallo for earning this national recognition.
“This incredible honor truly validates his hard work and commitment to nonpartisan democratic engagement at Raritan Valley Community College,” Moog said.
“Nick is an engaged civic leader committed to strengthening student voices in our democracy through voter education and environmental justice,” Moog said. “His service learning completed through his Ethics class kindled his passion to uplift youth voices, which is rooted in his dedication to justice and raising awareness of social justice issues.”
Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, said the ALL IN honorees have demonstrated the powerful role college students have in the electoral process and in encouraging their peers to participate in democracy.
“These honorees hosted candidate information sessions, created guides on polling location accessibility, registered their peers to vote, and so much more,” Domagal-Goldman said. “We know these students will continue to make a difference in our democracy.”
Studies show that voting habits are built and strengthened over time. A recent survey from CIRCLE showed that 86% of adults under 35 voted in 2022 and 72% of those who voted in 2020 consider themselves extremely likely to vote in 2024. Colleges and universities play a key role in encouraging their students to become active and engaged citizens.
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. With the support of the ALL IN staff, campuses that join the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge complete a set of action items to institutionalize nonpartisan civic learning, political engagement and voter participation.
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge engages more than 1,000 institutions enrolling over 10 million students in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Campuses can join ALL IN here.
