It’s election season and with only two weeks left until the 2018 mid-term elections, our campuses are buzzing with activity. In this month’s issue of Connections, you will learn about the many ways that Jesuit colleges and universities have encouraged their students to register to vote.

A former Democratic member of Congress and a Republican campaign strategist walk into a classroom at a Jesuit liberal-arts institution. This may sound like the set up to a joke, but the reality is not a laughing matter. These individuals are Tim Bishop and Peter Flaherty: two alumni of the College of the Holy Cross, who returned to their alma mater this fall to co-teach an undergraduate course on the mid-term elections and campaign management.

The races leading up to the November 6 mid-term elections continue to be volatile for many who are running for the House and Senate. On the Senate side, Democrats would need to keep 26 seats and pick up one or two more in order to take control; a change in leadership thus seems unlikely. In the House of Representatives, Democrats would need to pick up 23 seats to take control. A number of issues are at stake, including many that could impact higher education policy.

Every year, many students enrolled in the Philosophy, Politics, and the Public (PPP) Honors Program at Xavier University engage in political campaigns throughout the Greater Cincinnati, OH region as part of their coursework. While amenable to liberals and conservatives alike, the highly selective program challenges students to analyze, critique and defend their views.

Equal access to voting is an issue that still matters today. That’s why USF Votes, a voter engagement initiative led by the University of San Francisco’s (USF) Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good, is more important than ever. As campus partners with the Andrew Goodman Foundation, we honor Goodman’s legacy by defending participatory democracy, inclusive of everyone, where the fundamental right to vote is diligently preserved.

Regis University has a long tradition of positioning its students to think critically about the world and their role in it. Students are taught to focus on the social problems that our communities and the world are facing, and to take action and address the issues head on. Guided by their core values, including contemplation in action and teaching people to be men and women for others, the Jesuits are known for not being afraid to question and challenge the status quo.

This fall, in anticipation of the midterm elections and to spread the message of solidarity, the Santa Clara Community Action Program (SCCAP) of Santa Clara University is hosting a weeklong program of activities called Allyship Week. Throughout the week, groups representing specific racial, ethnic, political and even environmental-protection communities on campus, will be tabling and sharing ideas for how Santa Clara students can be allies to them —and explaining why that matters.

Loyola University Chicago law student Grant Bosich is among a group of student volunteers leading a campaign on Loyola’s campuses to register students to vote this fall. Taking on a leadership role in the democratic process might seem natural for a future lawyer, but Bosich’s motivation comes from an unexpected source: his own failure to vote in the 2016 election.