Bard College’s Leadership on Student Voting Rights Featured on MS NOW’s Deadline: White House and Way Too Early
A Bard student holding an "I Voted" sticker. Photo by Joseph Nartey ’26
MS NOW ran a segment on Bard’s history of student voting advocacy. MS NOW's chief political reporter Chris Jansing came to campus to speak with current students and Acting President Jonathan Becker for Deadline: White House. Becker discussed increasing restrictions on student voting including the proposed SAVE act, which would require voters to present a birth certificate or passport at the polls, and recent efforts to restrict mail-in ballots. “Restrictions on student voters aren’t simply happening, they’re growing. We’ve seen recent cases in Indiana, for example, where a law which bans college issued IDs from counting as identification for voting purposes will impact between 30,000 and 80,000 voters,” Becker said.
“I’m grateful that I’m at a college where [voting] is more accessible, but it does worry me because if you’re at a place where it’s not accessible students are going to be more likely to not vote,” one Bard student told Jansing. Students, faculty, and staff at Bard have worked to secure voting rights on campus for over two decades, and secured a polling place on campus in 2022.
Jansing also reported on Bard’s efforts to strengthen students rights on MS NOW’s morning show Way Too Early. Jansing mentioned Becker’s recent essay in the New York Times about student voting rights, “What Does the Trump Administration Have Against the 26th Amendment?” “The fight that they’re waging is just to be allowed to let students vote and use federal funds for that,” she said in reference to Becker’s piece. “[Bard has] a fantastic program that helps students learn how to vote, learn how to register, get involved. It took them 25 years and four lawsuits to get to where they are today.”
Since 2014, the student-led group Election@Bard has educated students on their voting rights and organized to remove obstacles to voting. Election@Bard is an initiative of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College, which coordinates a broad range of initiatives that connect students to internships, volunteer opportunities, community engagement, and activism. Providing Bard students with the opportunity to tap into their own idealism and vision, and develop civic skills that are fundamental for active citizenship.
Post Date: 08-26-2026
“I’m grateful that I’m at a college where [voting] is more accessible, but it does worry me because if you’re at a place where it’s not accessible students are going to be more likely to not vote,” one Bard student told Jansing. Students, faculty, and staff at Bard have worked to secure voting rights on campus for over two decades, and secured a polling place on campus in 2022.
Jansing also reported on Bard’s efforts to strengthen students rights on MS NOW’s morning show Way Too Early. Jansing mentioned Becker’s recent essay in the New York Times about student voting rights, “What Does the Trump Administration Have Against the 26th Amendment?” “The fight that they’re waging is just to be allowed to let students vote and use federal funds for that,” she said in reference to Becker’s piece. “[Bard has] a fantastic program that helps students learn how to vote, learn how to register, get involved. It took them 25 years and four lawsuits to get to where they are today.”
Since 2014, the student-led group Election@Bard has educated students on their voting rights and organized to remove obstacles to voting. Election@Bard is an initiative of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College, which coordinates a broad range of initiatives that connect students to internships, volunteer opportunities, community engagement, and activism. Providing Bard students with the opportunity to tap into their own idealism and vision, and develop civic skills that are fundamental for active citizenship.
Post Date: 08-26-2026