Youth Voting Rights, a New Book by Bard Vice President Jonathan Becker and Constitutional Scholar Yael Bromberg, Examines the Ongoing Fight for the Right to Vote in the United States
“A stirring analysis of this important history and a powerful call to action.” – Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—This week, a groundbreaking book, Youth Voting Rights: Civil Rights, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and the Fight for American Democracy on College Campuses, was published by DeGruyter. Focusing on the history of the 26th Amendment and the ongoing fight to promote and defend youth voting rights, the book offers a new approach to teaching the history of the struggle for the fundamental right to vote in the United States.Youth Voting Rights focuses on case studies of four institutions—Tuskegee University, Prairie View A&M University, North Carolina A&T State University, and Bard College. These cases, which emerged from a joint course that united faculty and students from all four institutions, offer unique insights into the role of college communities in the fight for suffrage, and their contributions to the evolution of the right to vote.
The book is coedited by Jonathan Becker, professor of political studies, vice president for academic affairs and director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College, and Yael Bromberg, Esq., a constitutional rights litigator, leading legal scholar of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and election law professor at American University Washington College of Law.
According to Bromberg, Esq.: “This book offers something completely new to the field: an examination of the evolution of the right to vote, from the perspective of college communities who helped to shape it. At a moment of constitutional crisis, these stories, and the civic actors who anchor them, offer a necessary dose of inspiration of what is possible when institutional actors work together, young and old, to build coalitions and protect access to the fundamental right to vote.”
Becker added: “The lessons of the book are particularly important today, as we see the shadow of authoritarianism creeping across the country. The book is not simply about voting but how students, faculty and administrators from four disparate institutions have fought for their foundational democratic rights.”
The case studies highlight key electoral mechanisms for youth access to the ballot, their evolution over time preceding and following ratification of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and the contributions by HBCUs in shaping the nation's voting rights jurisprudence. Chapters are contributed by faculty from each of the institutions. These lessons have also been further highlighted in recent articles in The Nation; Talking Points Memo; and Inside Higher Ed.
Jelani Favors, United Negro College Fund vice president and senior director of the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, formerly the Henry E. Frye distinguished professor of history at NC A&T, said, “Universities have always been one of the most contested spaces in shaping the idealism of youth - for better and for worse. In Youth Voting Rights: Civil Rights, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and the Fight for American Democracy on College Campuses, we witness the power of what occurs when college students embrace the rhetoric of our nation's founding documents and seek to fulfill the unkept promises of ‘liberty and justice for all.’”
Lisa Bratton is an associate professor of History at Tuskegee University, who said, “The Gomillion v. Lightfoot case speaks to the national impact that a small school like Tuskegee Institute can have on the issue of gerrymandering. The commitment and perseverance of Tuskegee's citizens can be blueprints for other communities to learn and to replicate what is actually possible in spite of the strength of the opposition.”
Michael Nojeim, professor and program coordinator of Political Science at Prairie View A&M University, said, “I have had the honor and privilege of witnessing firsthand our students’ determined resistance against forces that would deny them their hard-won constitutional rights. This book reveals a vital truth: it is often students—and not faculty—who teach us what courage, commitment, and leadership look like.”
Erin Cannan, Bard College’s vice president for Civic Engagement said, “My experience as one of the Bard administrative organizers of the campus voter action plan and a named litigant in Bard's course cases, I was witness to the deliberate actions taken to prevent registering eligible voters in our county. This book not only captures the stories of how faculty, staff and students battled these efforts across the country but provides a roadmap for how campuses and communities can address disenfranchisement efforts in their own communities.”
Melanye Price, the inaugural director of the Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice at Prairie View A&M University and a course co-instructor said: “In 1995 as a sophomore and first-time voter, 19 of my fellow Prairie View classmates were indicted for voter fraud. In the aftermath, I learned about the long history of attempted voter suppression by local officials. The effort to stop PV students from exercising their full voting rights as citizens continues. As a professor at Prairie View, I have watched new generations of students fight these battles. This book highlights that history and brings to light voting rights struggles on other campuses. It is a necessary read for all college students and anyone who is interested in youth civic participation.”
The book is available for purchase in hard and soft cover, and via open source as a free download to encourage its incorporation into academic teaching curriculum.
For further information or for review copies, please contact co-editors Jonathan Becker: [email protected] and Yael Bromberg: [email protected], or go to: cce.bard.edu/get-involved/election/youth-voting-rights-book/.
The book’s publication is accompanied by the production of high-quality short films on the book’s case studies. To schedule a book talk and/or film screening, contact the co-editors. We kick off our national campus tour this spring 2026 and through the 2026 election cycle! Bring the book contributors to your campus.
BOOK ENDORSEMENTS
“Generations of young Americans, from Freedom Summer in 1964 to the passage of the 26th Amendment in 1971 to the college campus struggles happening today during the Trump period, have been on the front lines of the fight to vote. This book is a stirring analysis of this important history and a powerful call to action.”
– Rep. Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the House Committee on the Judiciary and author, We the Students: Supreme Court Decisions for and about Students
“At a moment of democratic peril, this desperately needed book arrives on the eve of the 250th anniversary of America’s founding—with promising insight and powerful analysis of young voters and the youth vote. If America is to celebrate future anniversaries as a democracy, it will be because we heed the rich scholarship, practical lessons, trenchant case studies, and inspired wisdom inscribed on these pages."
– Cornell William Brooks, professor, Harvard Kennedy School, 18th President & CEO, NAACP
“This book is an essential look at the hard-fought and hard-won voting rights victories of young Americans. College students and young people have always been at the forefront of change in America. It's no wonder anti-democratic forces are cracking down on university campuses — where organizing, protest, and youth-led movements are born.”
– David Hogg, president, Leaders We Deserve; Co-founder, March For Our Lives
“The struggle to secure the right to vote for college students and young people did not end with the passage of the 26th Amendment in 1971. Youth Voting Rights shows with passion and detail that community organizing, savvy legal strategy, and perseverance are necessary to secure the promise of equal voting for young and old and for black, brown, and white.”
– Richard L. Hasen, UCLA professor and author, A Real Right to Vote
“This is an exceptionally important book on the too-often dismissed problem of voter suppression laws aimed at young voters. I highly recommend.”
– Marc E. Elias, partner, Elias Law Group LLP and founder, Democracy Docket
"When colleges, students, and the broader community have organized, they have won victories and made great progress. This book shows you how that happened in the past, with important lessons for the present and future."
– Heather Booth, founder, Midwest Academy, and 1964 Freedom Summer volunteer
"This must-read book explains in great clarity why this work is so important in this moment and time. I have worked closely with Jonathan Becker and Yael Bromberg upholding the promise of the 26th Amendment, which was supposed to bring equal access to the ballot box for young voters in America."
– David Goodman, board member of the Andrew Goodman Foundation, and brother of Andrew Goodman, Student Civil Rights worker murdered in Mississippi, 1964
"In this vitally important, original, and timely book, legal scholars and voting rights advocates Becker and Bromberg present a compelling, collaborative picture of the history, litigation, and future of youth voting rights and the 26th Amendment. The innovative emphasis on the role of students, faculty, and institutions of higher education, particularly HBCUs, provides new historical insights and new practical ideas to protect and defend the voting rights of young Americans in our democracy."
– Jennifer Frost, University of Auckland, and author, "Let Us Vote!" Youth Voting Rights and the 26th Amendment
"A compelling example of students and institutions working together to protect voting rights. An inspiring resource for anyone advancing civic engagement and access to the ballot."
– Bobbie Laur, president, Campus Compact
"College and university campuses are essential and powerful sites for democracy that ensure students graduate with the knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary for informed participation and leadership in our communities--from our town halls to the ballot box. This book describes how higher education institutions have served to shape voting rights jurisprudence and continue to work toward a democracy that includes the voices of college students and others who face systemic barriers to participation."
– Jennifer M. Domagal-Goldman, executive director, ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
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About Bard College
Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place and Massena properties, Bard’s campus consists of more than 1,200 parklike acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in nearly 40 academic programs; advanced degrees through 13 graduate programs; nine early colleges; and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 165-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal arts education. The undergraduate program at the main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu.
Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place and Massena properties, Bard’s campus consists of more than 1,200 parklike acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in nearly 40 academic programs; advanced degrees through 13 graduate programs; nine early colleges; and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 165-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal arts education. The undergraduate program at the main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu.
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This event was last updated on 11-19-2025
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