A literature professor in New Jersey made national headlines earlier this year by requiring her students to enter voting booths in the 2004 presidential election.
Merrill Skaggs, 66, who teaches at Drew University, said she was surprised to learn at a conference this summer that only 37 percent of college students voted in the 2000 presidential election.
"From the conference, I was told that many students don't vote simply because they don't know how to vote from inexperience," Skaggs said. "For many of them it will be their first chance to vote."
At the same conference, she got the idea of requiring her students to vote from a martial arts professor who required that his students vote.
Before the start of this academic year, Skaggs wrote an e-mail urging other professors to do the same.
"Most of the responses I received were supportive, but a few were not," she said.
The New York Times and other newspapers picked up the story.
"I find it all extremely interesting and I'm pleased about the coverage it has received," Skaggs said. "It's really getting the word and idea out."
Nathan Price, special assistant to AU Provost Neil Kerwin, said he was not aware of any similar assignments at AU.
He said AU regulations on "Conduct of Classes by Faculty" emphasize relying on professors' judgment in designing challenging assignments "related to the objectives of the course and of such a nature and length that the students may reasonably be expected to profit educationally from their completion."
Katy Young, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said Skaggs' efforts to energize and educate her students about the electoral process are admirable.
Opponents said the idea was totalitarian and undemocratic.
"Many of the professors were concerned that requiring students to vote was a violation of their rights," said Edye Lawler, Drew University's dean of education and student affairs. "We provided Professor Skaggs with legal counsel on the issue and it was determined to be legal."
Skaggs does not buy into her opponents' argument.
"Australia requires its citizens to vote in elections and fines them if they don't, and nobody calls Australia totalitarian," she said.
She said the requirement would be integrated into the participation and attendance portion of a student's final grade. "All I am requiring is that they enter the voting booth," she added. "Whether they actually vote is their decision."
Skaggs said she has been careful about being impartial about the different candidates. While she plans to vote, she has refused to say who she plans to vote for or hold debates about the election in class because she wants to remain impartial.
"A professor has no business expressing loves and hates in the classroom," Skaggs told The New York Times. "That's propaganda, not education - and I'm not sure I can trust myself to be totally neutral anyway"
