Voter apathy is a common criticism of today's college students. Indeed, one study found that just 45.7 percent of USC students voted in the last presidential election in 2012. But one organization on USC's campus is looking to turn the tide by getting students involved and getting them informed on the issues facing the state, nation and world this election cycle.
Last February, the group was just beginning at the University of South Carolina as the brainchild of fourth-year sociology and Russian student Cory Alpert. Today, Lead the Way is nationally recognized by groups such as DemocracyWorks, working on 16 campuses in five states and a national flagship partner of National Voter Registration Day.
Alpert describes the group as "a student-led voter registration and civic engagement initiative." Over the course of this semester, they've organized registration drives at events all over campus, such as Gamecock soccer games, and registered thousands of students. They also have a partnership with Turbovote to maintain a personalized registration site for USC students.
Getting to this point involved the help of old and new friends for Alpert.
Early on in the project, he connected with other members of Student Government to get help.
Second-year environmental studies and global studies student Reghan Murphy, who serves as the organization's director of campus outreach, first heard of Lead the Way when she was partnered with Alpert for a "get to know you" exercise at an Student Government retreat.
"I'm really interested in politics and in the democratic process..." she said. "So when he mentioned it I jumped onto the opportunity."
Murphy's job is focused on reaching out to other student organizations to get them involved. This meant she was heavily involved in this year's biggest event: National Voter Registration Day. Murphy, her team and volunteer coordinator Alex Royle ended up bringing in more than 100 volunteers to 11 registration sites.
"We just tabled all day," Murphy recalled with a chuckle.
At the end of the day, Lead the Way had met and surpassed their goal of registering 500 students by registering 2,306 people. That was a new record for single-day registering on a college campus.
Second-year broadcast student Kathryn Stoudemire also heard about Lead the Way through Alpert's Student Government connections. She's now the organization's director of marketing and argues the leadership team's close-knit relationship is what makes the group so successful.
"The Lead the Way team is truly a family that really cares about what we’re doing," she said.
Although the USC team goes way back and does work with other USC organizations like Students Invested in Change, an unlikely ally has helped to really take the group to the next level.
Fourth-year political science student Maggie Ambrose is poised to take over national leadership of the group. She's also a student at Clemson.
Her branch has registered more than 1,000 students, and they're planning a major push during the Tigers' homecoming celebrations.
"We work very closely with the USC branch of Lead The Way," she said. "We keep each other updated on numbers and events weekly. It’s a pleasure to work with their team and keep up the friendly rivalry."
The two branches have also been able to put that rivalry to good use. They'll announce the results of what Alpert calls a "friendly competition" to see who registered more students. The winner will be announced on the field at this year's Carolina-Clemson game.
And one thing Alpert and Ambrose have in common is that they want the voters they register to also be informed about the issue. USC's chapter has taken on that challenge by organizing a series of informational panels. Each forum focuses on a topic relevant to younger voters and involves an expert panel.
This semester's topics included climate change, the economy, human and civil rights, women in politics, media and politics and national security. They drew panelists from many of USC's own schools such as Charles Bierbauer, the dean of the College of Information and Communication, and experts from inside the Capital Beltway such as POLITCO reporter Hadas Gold.
Alpert says the panels have "given community members a space to learn more about some of the most important issues in the election."
As election day draws closer, Lead the Way is also in transition. They're working on an election night viewing party with Student Government, and Alpert is looking to take his push for on-campus polling locations and increased access all the way to the General Assembly.
Stoudemire acknowledges there's a lot more work to be done.
"Simply stated, I don’t think we’re doing enough," she said. "It is important to start teaching children at a young age how crucial it is to vote, and how vital it is to our society."