Pacific Votes Resources

This page includes videos, teaching resources, and opportunities to get involved with the Pacific Votes program. Read on for inspiration and ideas for how you can help!

Want to be inspired?

The Spring 2019 "Video for Community Engagement" class explored the voting process in a series of whimsical and informative short videos:

Teaching Resources

Club Opportunities

As of 2019, the College Democrat and College Republican student clubs are housed in the MCCE. They are two of the many Service, Politics & Advocacy Clubs active on the Pacific Campus and they are working together to help students identify their political values and better understand party platforms, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of registering with a political party.

As we enter a new decade and face increasingly fraught election years, it has become apparent that we need spaces on campus, and in our country, where people can hold civil conversations about their political beliefs. While hard, these conversations allow us to find common ground and to challenge, revise, and strengthen our own understanding of the world. Interested in this important work? The McCall Center for Civic Engagement is actively working to strengthen and grow the student-led College Republican & College Democrat clubs at Pacific and we need your help! Leadership and participation opportunities abound. Email us for more information and next steps.

The Work We're Doing

Pacific University is committed to strengthening our support of American democracy by enhancing our students' awareness, motivation, and ability to participate in democratic institutions and processes. The non-partisan Pacific Votes program is guided by the Pacific University Action Plan for Strengthening American Democracy, created as part of our participation in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. 

Our participation in the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement allows us access to robust, de-identified information about our student body's voting rates. The most recent report compared Student Voting Rates for Pacific University in 2020, 2016, and 2012 (previous reports comparing 2018/2014 and 2016/2012 are also available). We are pleased to make the report available for public perusal, as well as highlight the following key facts. In 2020, the report shows:

  • campus-wide voting rate increased by 16.5% from 2016 for a total of 67.5%   
  • this is a higher turnout rate than the national average for institutions of higher education (66%) and than than the general public (66.1%)
  • specific student populations saw an even higher voting rate increase e.g.
    • Student who identify as Asian: +29%
    • Students who identify as American Indian / Alaska Native: +24%
    • Students who identify as Black: +29%
    • Students who identify as having 2 or more races: +19%

We believe these efforts bode really well for Pacific students' future democratic engagement & we are excited to continue this important work!

There's Still Work to Be Done

In 2021-2022 we were recognized as the first institution in the state of Oregon to receive "Voter Friendly Campus" status and we made Washington Monthly's list of Colleges Doing the Most to Get their Students to Vote for the fourth year in a row. For what did we earn these honors? We are making an earnest effort to do better at empowering our students to vote and do so with good information and understanding.

Doing better than the 67.5% of students who voted in 2020 takes a collective effort, and we need a broad group of stakeholders to help our students participate in what feels like increasingly fraught election years. Plus, ANYONE can contribute to a work group, even those who cannot, for one reason or another, vote.  If you're a student, faculty/staff member, alum, or community member - we need your input! Please email us for more information and to join us efforts.