Columbia Professor Recognized as 2025 ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge Award Winner

Campus Communications Staff / Apr 09, 2025

graphic with sharon bloyd-peshkin's photo that reads all-in 2024 awards, standout faculty member
Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin, a professor at Columbia College Chicago, has been honored as one of 37 Champion Award winners for supporting nonpartisan student voter engagement during the 2024 election.

Today, the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) honored Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin, a professor at Columbia College Chicago, with their Democracy Challenge's 2025 Standout Faculty Member Champion Award as part of ALL IN Awards Day, a virtual day of celebration. 

Bloyd-Peshkin joins 37 other honorees, a group that includes students, faculty and staff, presidents, athletic coaches, partner organizations, and election officials, who are being recognized for their exemplary leadership in advancing nonpartisan student civic engagement. From civic learning to voter participation, these leaders are empowering students to become lifelong participants in our democracy.

ALL IN supports more than 1,020 campuses nationally to make nonpartisan civic engagement an ongoing part of campus life.

At Columbia, Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin has played a pivotal role in increasing student election engagement on campus. In 2019, she started Columbia Votes! to help students learn about the electoral process, assist them with registering, and increase student voting. And the impact has been clear, with Columbia’s voting rate increasing16 percent from 2016 to 2020. And while the numbers for 2024 aren’t in yet, the hope is those numbers went up as well.

"This is a well-deserved honor for Sharon, who has worked tirelessly to promote civic involvement,” says Jerry Tarrer, interim president and chief executive officer of Columbia College Chicago. “Her guidance has inspired our students to grasp the significance of the electoral process and embrace their role as active participants in our democracy for years to come.”

According to Jen Domagal-Goldman, Executive Director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, college students did not sleep in on Election Day — they were determined to make their voices heard in 2024, despite the long lines and an increase in restrictive voting laws.

“Elections matter, and with 100,000 local elections happening across the country in 2025, ALL IN campuses continue to ensure that every student has the information they need to cast their ballot. The award winners recognized today lead by example, making nonpartisan voter participation a core part of campus life.” 

The full list of individual champion award winners can be viewed at allin.vote/awards.

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