VCU news

By Mike Porter

Nationally recognized social activist and author Paul Loeb challenged VCU ASPiRE students to put their dedication to civic responsibility to work by helping residents of Richmond’s Mosby Court community register to vote.

Loeb, who is the author of five books, including “Impossible Will Take Time,” a collection of stories about activists throughout history who faced overwhelming challenges, and “Soul of a Citizen,” aimed at promoting citizen activism,  also called on campus leaders to help students blossom as engaged citizens.

“Our students often have latent gifts that don’t always get discovered,” Loeb said. “But if you approach them with patience, the right message and right context, they might bloom.”
 
Loeb spent two days on campus and in the community last week at the invitation of the VCU Division of Community Engagement as part of a continuing effort to bring more national speakers to campus to discuss civic involvement and community engagement.

“Paul’s visit is very appropriate for this year, given his interest in encouraging students to vote and that Virginia is one of the few states with a major election this year,” said Catherine W. Howard, Ph.D., vice provost, Division of Community Engagement. “He combined the message of getting involved as a citizen with the real opportunity of practicing one's right to vote.”

Howard said data shows student voter turnout is low in a non-presidential election year. Loeb founded the Campus Election Engagement Project (CEEP) in 2008 to boost voter turnout on college campuses and has provided VCU with a small grant to support “VCU Votes,” a non-partisan student voter drive effort.

“VCU is getting recognition for our efforts to register students to vote,” Howard said. “We received the Democracy Cup award last year for our get-out-the-vote efforts. Students in ASPiRE, mass communication and the Honors College participated in that effort.”

The university is also working to boost voter turnout in Richmond’s Mosby Court community.  Like students, residents in Mosby are less likely to vote in a non-presidential election year.

Members of the Mosby Leadership Program, the Mosby Tenant Association and ASPiRE students are trying to increase the number of voters at Mosby, and Loeb has played a continuing role in supporting those efforts.

“Paul’s Campus Election Engagement Project helped fund some of the ASPiRE/Mosby get-out-the-vote efforts during the recent presidential election,” said Nannette Bailey, community partnerships coordinator for VCU ASPiRE. “Additionally, the Mosby residents and the ASPiRE students presented their voter engagement model during a statewide meeting hosted by Paul Loeb.”

As a result, the residents and students invited Loeb to help kick off their gubernatorial get-out-the-vote effort to boost registration in advance of this year’s hotly contested Virginia governor’s race. On Sept.16, Loeb met with 30 Mosby residents and some ASPiRE students to launch the effort.

“The takeaway for our students and for the residents is that civic engagement empowers individuals and communities to make positive changes and influences society in future generations,” Bailey said.

ASPiRE students and Mosby residents will team up for a door-to-door voter registration campaign on Monday, Sept. 30.

VCU’s relationship with the Mosby community was strengthened in 2012 when the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the Mosby Tenant Association, the VCU Center on Health Disparities and the ASPiRE program successfully applied for a one-year community engagement grant from VCU’s Council for Community Engagement to create a leadership program for Mosby residents.  

The first 10-week leadership program started in September 2012 with 14 Mosby residents participating. They were required to attend a series of interactive leadership development workshops held throughout the community. The second classes, which started in March 2013, attracted 10 Mosby residents as participants.

The classes led to a discussion about the importance of voting, which resulted in the creation of the get-out-the-vote effort to boost awareness, register voters and provide rides to the polls on election day.  

A day after kicking off the Mosby voter drive, Loeb shared his impressions of the program and of VCU’s community engagement efforts with a group of university employees.

“I think you folks are seriously down the path of engagement,” Loeb said. “When I talk about schools nationally that do it right, I talk about VCU – particularly about projects like the Mosby Court example.”