To build community and provide voter education and participation, MSUvote secured multiple grants from the Students Learn Students Vote, the Campus Election Engagement Project, and Ask Every Student national initiatives. This funding allowed MSUvote to host over 25 virtual civic dinners (where students and facilitators were provided with gift cards for meals). Nearly 400 students participated in the virtual civic dinners, creating a sense of community and a place for critical conversations. The topic for the dinners was exploring and discussing National Vote Early Day. Facilitators and participants were faculty, staff, students, and community members.

MSU also partnered with the MSU Student-Athlete Support Services, the Big Ten Network, and the Michigan Secretary of State to host a Voter Registration Virtual Rally. Special guest speakers included Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and MSU Men’s Head Basketball Coach Tom Izzo. Several MSU sports teams achieved 100% voter registration and nearly 100 students participated in the rally.

MSUvote hosted a Constitution Day film viewing and discussion. The film 13th is a 2016 American documentary that explores the intersection of race, justice, and mass incarceration in the United States. It is titled after the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted in 1865, which abolished slavery throughout the United States and ended involuntary servitude except as a punishment for conviction of a crime. The session was facilitated by Dr. Mieka Smart, assistant professor in the College of Human Medicine.

To meet our goal of increasing 2020 student voting rates to 55 percent, the MSUvote presentations were shared in all incoming freshman orientation sessions to inform students about the registration, voting, and vote by mail efforts.

Student interns and fellows played a key role in setting the goals and plans for the university and in implementing projects and efforts aimed at meeting those goals. Students are represented equally in the coalition and play lead roles on multiple initiatives. MSU hosted 12 student interns and fellows during the fall 2020 semester.

MSUvote student interns, Campus Election Engagement Project (CEEP) Fellows, and Campus Vote Project (CVP) Fellows worked together to provide information about voter registration and absentee/vote by mail to MSU students. They produced informational videos and partnered with local community education efforts sponsored by the East Lansing City Clerk, the Ingham County Clerk, and the League of Women Voters.

To continue building post-election democratic engagement at MSU, the MSUvote Campus Coalition also hosted a panel discussion, held in January 2021, regarding the roles of poll workers and elections officials. This event featured the Michigan Secretary of State, MSU faculty members, student poll workers, and the East Lansing Clerk. It was well attended even though the start date for students was delayed by a week due to the pandemic.

The MSUvote Campus Coalition continues to be led by co-chairs Renee Brown, Director of the Center for Community Engaged Learning, and Suchitra Webster, MSU Community Liaison. The coalition continues to partner with the MSU Office of the President, the MSU Office of the Provost, the Council of Deans, MSU Athletics, the Associated Students of Michigan State University (ASMSU), the MSU Public Radio Station 89FM-WDBM, the Council of Graduate Students, University Outreach and Engagement, registered student organizations, Fraternity and Sorority Life, Student Life, various faculty members (from advertising and political science to law and medicine), and Residence Education and Housing Services (REHS).