Austin Community College Wins Vote Early Day Community College Concert Competition

Austin Community College (ACC) has emerged as the winner of the inaugural Vote Early Day Community College Concert Competition, sponsored by SHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment Studios and Levi's. As part of the prize, rising star Jessie Murph will perform a free concert for ACC students on October 24 to encourage early voting.

The competition, launched by Levis, MTV, and nonprofit voter engagement partners, aims to incentivize and assist community colleges in increasing voter turnout. In 2020, there was a 10 percentage-point gap in voting rates between two-year and four-year higher education institutions, despite community colleges making up nearly a third of all college students.

ACC was selected from nearly 150 community colleges for its outstanding voter registration and engagement efforts. The college stood out due to its nonpartisan democratic engagement action plan, commitment to recognizing civic holidays like National Voter Registration Day, and successful events to encourage student voter registration and turnout.

"It's very easy for people to get disillusioned, to doom scroll and think that they can't make a difference... we really are focused on how important not only voting, but understanding the local issues ... make a big difference in people's lives," said Chris Cervini, ACC's vice chancellor of community and government affairs.

Federal law requires institutions receiving federal funds to encourage voter registration. ACC has been focused on voter engagement for years, but recent efforts, including hiring a new director of public affairs, voter registration and elections, and amplifying student voices, have expanded their impact.

Students at ACC have been instrumental in creating a culture of voter engagement, organizing events like a City Council elections forum and training as volunteer deputy registrars to register their peers.

Cervini noted that ACC entered the competition to encourage early voting and consulted local nonpartisan groups such as MOVE Texas and the League of Women Voters for their voter engagement plan. To make voting more accessible and fun, five ACC campuses will host a "Parade to the Polls" with food and music.

"When you engage a community college student in getting registered, in learning about their polling place, in getting them in the habit of what it takes to exercise this right and this freedom, you get them for the rest of their lives," Cervini said.

Addressing Equity Gaps in College Student Voting

Clarissa Unger, co-founder and executive director of the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, highlighted the need to address "equity gaps in the college student voting space." Community college students often face economic disadvantages and are more likely to be working or parenting students, making voting more challenging.

The competition organizers aimed to close this gap by supporting schools in developing resources and incentivizing further investment in student voter engagement. Unger praised ACC's diverse coalition and various events for showcasing the importance of voting.

ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, another organizer of the competition, awarded ACC with its 2024 Higher Education Action Plan seal. Executive director Jen Domagal-Goldman noted that ACC has successfully met students' needs and created an impact, offering nonpartisan voter education in Texas, which does not have online voter registration.

"We know that with the right level of investment... they can really move the needle," Domagal-Goldman said.

The upcoming concert, funded by Levis and MTV and featuring Murph, MTV’s PUSH artist, will be a significant moment of celebration and a catalyst to energize more students to vote.

"This is not about who folks are going to vote for, this is about everyone's voice being heard," Domagal-Goldman said. "It's going to be both celebratory and also hopefully a catalyst for what needs to come next in the days remaining until the election."