Researchers: Lucy Porter, Daniella Feijoo, Jay Sherrill, Caleb Woody, Jackson Blodgett, Cydney Meadows, Natalie Valdes, Chizoba Ukairo, Fahim Gulamali, Marianne Magjuka, David Ajamy, and Zach Bynum

Wake the Vote is an intensive civic learning and democratic engagement experience for a highly selective group of undergraduates at Wake Forest University. Wake the Vote offers students the opportunity to form a diverse cohort, examine issues central to the presidential election, build competencies for engaged citizenship, and experience American democracy from the front lines through travel, participatory action, employment, course work, program planning, and personal reflection. Wake the Vote students traveled as a cohort to the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire, South Carolina, and North Carolina primaries in February 2016. Each Wake the Vote student was assigned to volunteer on the primary campaign of a presidential candidate. These assignments were made without regard to party affiliation or ideology, giving students the unique opportunity to work for candidates across the aisle. In July 2016 Wake the Vote students traveled as a cohort to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, and to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Inspired by their experiences and the political party conventions in the summer, the students launched an election-themed exhibition hub to host conversations and events, from presidential debate watch parties to panel discussions to local and national speakers. They curated a national exhibit, UP to US, which featured over 35 works by 12 artists and focused on issues, including immigration reform, violence in our communities, access to education, and voting rights.