North Carolina A&T University’s students have been at the forefront of campus voting initiatives over the past few years. A few weeks ago students collectively mobilized, and marched to their nearest early voting site nearly one hour away from campus alongside Bennett College and the University of N.C. at Greensboro after the local Board of Elections denied the university an early voting site. This time, in collaboration with non-partisan organization When We All Vote, the campus erupted into an afternoon of voter registration outreach and celebration to further engage students in their civic duty. The Party at the Polls event brought out the likes of Co-Chair Marsai Martin and Love Island USA winner Trinity Tatum to interact with N.C. A&T students, and encouraging them to exercise their power through voting.
As I stepped onto the buzzy yard full of joy, and youthful Black life it was truly a sight to see. Students were everywhere — socializing, registering to vote, checking in with each other to ensure they’d made it to the polls. When We All Vote had the area decked out with different activations to engage attendees while maintaining the central ethos of the event; to empower students to realize their voting power. Involved students were milling about, but amidst all of the activity going on a few found a moment to speak with me about their interest in voting and what they’ve endured in the process of being actively involved.
When Sophomore student Jimmie Holton Jr. told me that he doesn’t come from a family that’s heavily involved in voting I was shocked, having just watched him so engaged in the event unfolding around us.
“I don’t come from a family that’s big on voting. In my senior year [of high school, I went to a When We All Vote event. It made me really interested in the process of voting. So it was just one of my goals. When I got [to N.C. A&T University], I wanted to hit the ground and get involved with voting efforts. So today it’s just very important to see people here because we’re at a time where there are so many barriers to voting. I think events like this kind of refresh the idea of voting in people’s minds, and it makes it feel more within reach. Events like this remind us that we have the power and we can make the change that we want to see,” Holton told EBONY.
Holton’s story is a reminder that civic habits aren’t always passed down at the dinner table. Sometimes they’re sparked by a single moment, and sometimes by a student who decides to carry that spark forward. For many on the yard, the barriers to voting weren’t abstract. They were something they had spent months pushing against.
Few know that better than Shia Rozier, a student organizer who has spent her time at A&T working directly with election officials. When the Board of Elections denied the campus an early voting site, she was among the students who refused to let the decision go unchallenged, and she was candid about how discouraging that experience has been.
“I have been organizing at the local and state board of elections since [my] freshman year. And I think we’ve just progressively gotten further from democracy. When we went to the November board of elections meeting, there we were told by the board chair that voting was a privilege, not a right,” Rozier told EBONY.
Without the usual university channels to lean on, Rozier and her peers built their own. What began as a response to a roadblock became a student-led coalition with a clear mission, and it wasn’t a symbolic effort. It meant early mornings, long bus rides, and showing up in rooms where students were not always welcomed.
“So we independently created a student coalition called Protect Ours NC, in order to mobilize students and continue to advocate there, and then in January, when we got up at four in the morning, and loaded students on the bus at 6 a.m. to go up to the Capitol in Raleigh and protest at the state board of elections meeting. When we asked why our polling site wouldn’t be included in the plan, they said, we had five minutes to leave before calling the State Capitol Police on us,” Rozier shared. However, even in Rozier’s recounting of her experiences, she appeared to be adamant in her determination despite the obstacles endured.
That determination was met with energy of a different kind when Trinity Tatum took the stage. Tatum has been a consistent advocate and ambassador of When We All Vote, lending her platform to the organization and helping register thousands of voters. For a crowd of college students, many of whom know her from Love Island USA, her presence made the message of the day feel personal and accessible instead of distant.
Tatum’s message reflected the tone for the headliner, Marsai Martin. As a Co-Chair of When We All Vote, Martin was no stranger to the A&T community. The afternoon marked her third appearance on the university’s campus, and she wasn’t shy about her encouragement for students to be civically involved, even if it meant her returning to renew their investment.
“I really do believe that as our voices are heard now more than ever we need to continue to push through on what we believe in. We need to be very aware about whose hands we’re putting our lives in,” Martin told EBONY.
Her words landed on a campus that has already shown what organized students can do. Between the early-morning bus rides, the march to the polls, and an afternoon spent making voting feel like a celebration, A&T’s students aren’t waiting to be invited to the process. They’re making space for themselves in it, and as Martin’s repeat visits suggest, they won’t be doing it alone.