Election day is just weeks away, but for many states early voting is already underway. North Carolina students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T), Bennett College, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) kicked off the initiation of early voting with a massive protest demonstration on Thursday, Oct. 15 to their nearest polling site. Students were protesting the fact that there are no early voting sites on two of Greensboro, NC’s biggest campuses — specifically, NC A&T and UNCG. Notably, NC A&T is the largest HBCU in the country. But this fight didn’t begin last week. It began months ago when Greensboro’s local Board of Elections voted against adding an early voting site on their campus for the March primaries in January of 2026. Students were actively vocal about not only their disappointment but also their belief that their votes were intentionally undermined by the decision of the board.
As the largest HBCU in the country and in North Carolina, NC A&T students’ desire for accessible voting sites are well within their rights. Especially when you have the contributing factors of students’ limited access to transportation and Greensboro not being a walkable city. Collectively, students marched up time 45 minutes from campus to cast their votes in solidarity, to ensure that their voices were heard and to send the message that despite their circumstances they would make a way. EBONY asked NC A&T freshman Kaden Veney about his experience regarding the protest and why he felt compelled to participate.
“This was a moment, and a movement that I could not miss. To see everyone come from neighboring schools, mothers joining the chants with their young Black children, and the community cheering us on, I’ve never felt a sense of unity like that ever before. When we stopped Downtown, Jade Coleman, a student here at A&T, along with other Black women attending this school, and even a student from WSSU were all able to speak,” Veney said. “They spoke about injustice, the importance of voting, and they [everything] into perspective. One of the students who spoke and led the protest said she had the honor of hugging Nolan Wells’s mother. That hit me so hard when she said that. Overall, this experience was both uplifting as a community, and saddening as a young Black man myself. We joined hands in prayer at the end, we marched and screamed “Nolan Wells” at the top of our lungs, even with tears in our eyes. We were stronger than ever before, but more importantly, you could feel we are all so tired of having to live through this time and time again.”
In a time where circumstances are continually evolving against their favor, these students are showing up and out to uphold their civic duty.