UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State student Giselle Concepcion was nationally recognized by the ALL IN 2023 Student Voting Honor Roll for her efforts to help increase voting education and awareness on campus.
ALL IN recognized 175 students in the 2023 Student Voting Honor Roll, which acknowledges college students who advance nonpartisan student voter registration, education and turnout efforts, as well as ensure equitable access to the polls.
“I am honored to have been included in the Honor Roll and hope to connect with other advocates for change across the country,” said Concepcion, a second-year political science major and Schreyer Scholar.
Concepcion has served as the external president of the League of Women Voters at Penn State, as well as the current vice president and former chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee within the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA).
Concepcion has advocated for increased voter registration on campus with voter registration drives, tabling and collaborations with student organizations to educate the Penn State community on candidates and voting issues.
She coordinated the "PSU Votes" debate between Penn State College Democrats and College Republicans and started the Voting Advocacy Roundtable. The roundtable unites student groups at University Park who have an interest in voting with the Center for Character, Conscience and Public Purpose to coordinate efforts to increase civic engagement on campus.
“Giselle’s efforts in initiating and chairing the Voting Advocacy Roundtable were instrumental in garnering student groups’ efforts and helping them identify opportunities to help the University increase voter registration, participation and registration,” said Tim Balliett, director of the Center for Character, Conscience and Public Purpose, which coordinates the University’s non-partisan PSU Votes initiative.
During the 2022 mid-term election, Concepcion helped the Governmental Affairs Committee perform weekly voter registration tabling in the HUB-Robeson Center. This was the largest PSU Votes initiative in UPUA history, Concepcion said.
“Penn State students have an enormous amount of power to impact local and state elections. As students, we are greatly impacted by state policies at a land-grant university that receives an appropriation from the state legislature to offset the cost of attendance for in-state students,” Concepcion said. “I believe each student has a vested interest in voting for candidates that support higher education to uplift their experience. Students will undoubtedly be impacted by other pertinent issues and must be aware of how they can utilize their voices and live a life of civility.”
The Center for Character, Conscience and Public Purpose is a unit of Student Affairs. It encourages students to live a life of strong character, a thoughtful conscience and responsibility for public good.