Register to Vote

Student Activities & ASFC Voter Registration Initiatives

Looking Back

In the Fall of 2016, Foothill College was selected as one of 25 campuses in the country to receive the Civic Impact Grant to increase voter participation and advocacy. Foothill College registered more than 10% of the total voter registrations among the 25 colleges, and sponsored ongoing campus-wide events around the 2016 election to provide voter registration information.

2,386 students participated in these civic engagement programs in the fall of 2016. Foothill’s advocacy efforts and strategies are new and different, drawing upon the Civic Impact Grant and building alliances with community organizations. The Student Activities/Student Leadership and Service program partnered with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, UPVote, and the National Civic Impact program. A panel of local politicians addressing community housing and transportation issues was attended by over 300 students and was followed by an equally successful political awareness day event.

Statewide Advocacy and Leadership

Foothill consistently supports the statewide student association Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC), which engages students in the legislative process and voter initiatives. For the past three years, the Presidents of the SSCCC were from Foothill College (Courtney Cooper and Dahlia Salem, both women of color), setting the example for community colleges across the state. Additionally, Foothill’s leadership program encourages and trains students to take on leadership roles at the state level focusing on voter initiatives and legislative issues that impact community colleges. Foothill students have also been consistently involved at the regional level and we send a delegation of students to the fall and spring SSCCC Legislative General Assembly.

Statewide advocacy efforts continue to strengthen outreach to Foothill students as voters and active participants in the legislative process in California. Annually, Foothill students attend the Faculty Association for California Community Colleges (FACCC) Advocacy and Policy Conference and collaborate with Foothill-De Anza students and faculty and other colleagues from around the state. The conference includes legislative visits at the State Capitol. Voter registration initiatives looking towards upcoming elections are a major focus of the conference and training sessions for students. The ASFC Student Representation Fee supports political awareness events and ongoing voter registration.

Voter registration and Political Awareness events occur annually in partnership with League of Women Voters. The theme for the most recent ASFC Political Awareness Day event in October 2019, was the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote.

Looking Forward

For the month of February before the California statewide election on March, 3, 2020, we are hosting voter registration tabling and educational events about the right to vote. See a list of events.