FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DCC AMONG FIVE COMMUNITY COLLEGES

HONORED AT LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

RICHMOND — Students at five Virginia community colleges will be recognized for their efforts to register new voters and raise awareness for voter registration campaigns this year.

            VCCS Chancellor Glenn DuBois will present the awards on Nov. 3 during the annual Virginia Community College System Student Leadership Conference, to be held in Richmond.

            Colleges to be recognized for the number of new voters registered this fall include Danville Community College, Mountain Empire Community College, and Wytheville Community College, where students won 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place, respectively. Also recognized will be Thomas Nelson Community College, Tidewater Community College, and Wytheville Community College, where students will receive 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place awards for quality of effort and message in their voter registration and information campaigns on the higher education general obligation bonds on the ballot Nov. 5.

            Virginia’s community colleges registered more than 1,260 new voters before the Oct. 7 voter registration deadline this year.  In the new voters category, colleges were ranked by the number of new voters registered based on the college’s size.  Danville was 1^st with 187 new voters (8.4 percent); Mountain Empire was second with 166 (8.2 percent); and Wytheville was third with 82 new voters (4.7 percent).

            Thomas Nelson won first place in the quality of effort and message.  In addition to sponsoring voter registration drives at both college campuses, the college’s SGA President, Rachel DeForrest, dressed up as “Miss Liberty” to raise awareness about the general obligation bonds. The Student Government also sponsored buttons that said “GOB – Ask Me,” encouraging people to find out more about the bonds.

              Earning second place in the quality of effort and message category was Tidewater Community College. Students there registered the highest number of voters in all – 220 – through comprehensive campaigns at all four campuses as well as at faculty/staff events, regional festivals in Hampton Roads, and radio appeals. Tidewater is the second largest college in the system and has four campuses. 

            Third place in the quality of effort and message category went to Wytheville, where students sponsored numerous voter registration opportunities as well as sponsoring “Citizenship Day” on Sept. 17, where the message was “Register to Vote, it’s as American as Apple Pie.” The theme was posted all over campus for the day, a trivia contest with questions related to voting and the bond referendum was held, and apple pie and vanilla ice cream were served free to all students, faculty and staff.

           “Students and colleges throughout the system really went to work on voter registration this year,” noted Chancellor Glenn DuBois.  “I’m extremely proud of the commitment and citizenship these – and all of our students – displayed.

           “Our students have such tremendous energy and are such a huge resource. Helping them in developing their leadership skills is one of the most gratifying things we can do as faculty and administrators. I’m looking forward to visiting with all of the students involved in voter registration campaigns at the VCCS Student Leadership Conference,” he said.

Additional voter registration events were held at individual community colleges throughout the VCCS.
            As the top community college in the new voter registration category, students from Danville traveled to Richmond on Oct. 22 to be recognized by the Lieutenant Governor and have lunch with the Governor. The College of William and Mary was recognized in the four-year category. Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine congratulated the winning teams on behalf of Foundation 2002, the group promoting passage of the $900 million higher education bond issue as well as the $119 million parks and recreation bond question on the Nov. 5th ballot in Virginia. After a press conference with the Lieutenant Governor, Governor Mark Warner joined the students for lunch in the executive mansion.