In Praise of Vote Clamantis in Deserto

One of the joys of being a professor, and even more a director of a public policy center, is that students will often surprise and amaze. Here's a project that one Dartmouth student undertook to help make sure that college students are registered to vote, whether in New Hampshire or in their home states.

Vote Clamantis at Dartmouth

Dartmouth's motto, "Vox Clamantis in Deserto" translates to, "A Voice Calls Out in the Wilderness". Vote Clamantis is the voice of the student vote. Dartmouth students, like many young people already know the most important things any citizen needs to know: the issues that matter to them and to their communities. They attend a college that fosters their sense of awareness of issues both local and far-reaching. Yet even in an active community like Dartmouth too often thought is not turned into action.

Vote Clamantis in Deserto is a continuous nonpartisan voter registration drive to register every eligible Dartmouth voter for Election Day on November 2nd, 2004 and to obtain him or her an absentee ballot, if necessary, for his or her state.

Read more about the project in an op-ed in The Dartmouth by Kaelin Goulet, the project's founder. If you are a Dartmouth student and you haven't registered to vote, this site will guide you through the process. If you are not a Dartmouth student, but still need to register, be sure to check out the links at the site, which may also be of assistance.