Last year, campus buzzed with anticipation for the 2024 presidential election. Now in 2025, even during a quieter election cycle, Brown Votes is still working to engage students in local elections.
This semester, Brown Votes has been tabling on the Main Green during the week, talking to students about their voter registration status and ways they can get involved in the political process, said Rosie Shultz ’27, a member of Brown Votes Civic Engagement team.
Shultz emphasized Brown Votes’ efforts to help students engage with local Rhode Island politics, pointing to a special election for an open city council seat in Providence Ward 2. “Almost the entire voting-eligible population of Brown students could vote (for) this city council seat,” Shultz explained.
Though she believes students “generally do want to be engaged in local politics,” Shultz noted that students have been overall less inclined to visit the Brown Votes table, especially when compared to last year. When a presidential election was on the ballot, many students would approach Brown Votes members and ask about how to register to vote or get their absentee ballot, she said.
“Most students have the same steps they need to do now, but they’re not as proactive in coming up to the table,” Shultz said of this year’s efforts.
Summer Tullai ’27, a civic engagement team member for Brown Votes, said that one of the biggest challenges with voter engagement on campus is helping students “navigate their different registration deadlines,” as these can differ from state to state.
“A lot of people forget that elections happen when it’s not a major presidential election year,” Tullai said.
Percy Unger ’26, a civic engagement team member for Brown Votes, has also noticed less “urgency or momentum” among students on campus.
This year is largely focused on “base-building” for the organization, Unger said. Brown Votes student leaders have been reaching out to different student groups — such as Greek life organizations — and preparing for next year’s midterm elections.
“This semester’s work is less flashy,” Unger said. “But it’s the hard work that needs to be done to make the flashy year actually function.”
This year, Brown Votes worked on outreach via New Student Orientation, through training Bruno Leaders on presenting voter registration information to first years, and tabling at orientation events, Tullai said.
Tullai added that first-year students were especially eager to “learn about how they could get their absentee ballots.”
“People were more excited than I thought they were going to be,” she said.
Unger said that Brown Votes is a component of Brown 2026, the University’s initiative to recognize the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding. In October, the group will be co-sponsoring an event on the history of student civic engagement in the United States.
Sylvia Larkin ’26 said that she’s largely felt engaged in politics and has voted in every election since she became of voting age. She noted that she has generally felt less engaged this year, when compared to last year, feeling more “numb” to reading the news about politics.
Larkin added that Brown Votes has served as a helpful resource for both her and her friends on campus: “They’re good at getting people informed.”
Sophia Wotman is a University news editor covering activism and affinity & identity. She is a senior from Long Island, New York concentrating in political science with a focus on women’s rights. She is a jazz trumpet player, and often performs on campus and around Providence.
