On Sept. 16, Hopkins Votes and the Center for Social Concern hosted their annual National Voter Registration Day event in the Bloomberg Student Center. With over 100,000 state and local elections taking place in 2025, the event provides students resources to help them learn about registering to vote and become civically engaged.
National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) began in 2012 as an effort to get more Americans register to vote and politically active in their communities. Celebrated every September, NVRD works to make voting more accessible, with over 6 million Americans having registered to vote since the beginning of the program.
In an interview with The News-Letter Cameron Moore, the Communications Coordinator with the Center for Social Concern, described the active role students can play in their community upon registering to vote.
“It’s a way that they can make an impact towards change. Instead of just being a bystander, they can actually have their hands on with that change,” Moore shared.
Moore continued by explaining the general importance of being civically involved. She shared the value in events designed to get students engaged in voting, describing the role of students in learning how to become involved in their community.
“They need to educate themselves on it, immerse themselves more in that knowledge and be actively involved and engaged,” she said.
Student coordinators for this event were stationed at different areas designed to engage visitors in varying ways of civic engagement. Between T-shirt giveaways and photo booths, student volunteers were available to inform and guide visitors through helpful information about voting and engaging activities designed to connect the student community.
Many student coordinators for this event shared Moore’s belief of the importance of having student involvement. In an interview with The News-Letter, Volunteer Coordinator for Hopkins Votes, Arielle Clayton, highlighted the power that comes from students being able to vote.
“I think the importance in getting students to register to vote is to educate them — educate them on what their voice can do, and just let them know that they do have a voice, and their voice is important,” Clayton explained.
Hopkins student and Hopkins Votes Ambassador Sareen Muthyala agreed with the idea that students have power with their voices. He added that policies are able to be changed as long as individuals use their voices to create change.
“Especially at a time where a lot of the policies are impacting us, finally having the ability to get your voice heard after going through so many years of not being able to vote — not being able to do much stuff politically — is a liberating moment and allows people to shape America,” Muthyala added.
Though the majority of students attending the event were already registered to vote in their home state, students still attended to learn the first steps to engaging in their new Baltimore community.
Freshman Elizabeth Kesler shared why she believed voting and civic engagement was so important for the younger generation, specifically. Kesler spoke of current events impacting herself and other young voters.
“Oftentimes students are a demographic that is less represented in the voting age, and so their voices are not as loud as older [generations],” she explained. “But right now, a lot of the events are things that are very much engaging for younger voters. For example, the death of Charlie Kirk. He was a big icon for a lot of younger voters. Right now, it’s a time when a lot of younger voters feel more engaged because the issues they care about are on the table.”
Though freshman Sukanya Vasudevan was already registered to vote in her home state of New Jersey, she shared her personal reasons for why she believed voting was currently important to her in an interview with The News-Letter.
“The governor’s race is going on in New Jersey right now, and I really like one candidate over the other, so I want to register so that I can vote for them,” she said.
For more information about becoming politically involved, a sophomore interning for the Center for Social Concern Annmary Antony recommended visiting the Hopkins Votes Instagram, Hopkins Votes Website and the SNF Agora Institute.
