Whitman Students Lead the State in College Voting Challenge
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs visits campus to congratulate Whitman Votes
By Mónica Hernández Williams
Whitman students step up. Whitman Votes members, faculty and staff celebrated earning the highest student voter turnout among Washington’s four-year colleges in the 2024 election cycle. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs (front row, second from right) presented a commemorative plaque to Vinson Russell ’28 (front row, center), who accepted the award on behalf of the college.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs visited Whitman College on Wednesday, Sept. 17, to celebrate student leaders for their work in promoting civic engagement and voter participation on campus.
At a special luncheon with the Whitman Votes club, Hobbs honored students for taking part in the 2024 ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, commending their leadership and dedication in propelling Whitman to the highest student voting rate among four-year institutions in Washington state.
“Thank you for showing up for Walla Walla, Whitman and democracy,” said senior Jonathan Becker ’26, a Hispanic Studies and History double major from Menlo Park, California, as he addressed his classmates. “This is a collective effort, whether you helped out at a candidate forum or were at a tabling or community event that our club put on. It was all a piece of the work that led to this.”
Becker co-chaired Whitman Votes during the 2024 election cycle alongside Vinson Russell ’28, who is from Fairburn, Georgia and is pursuing Politics and Engineering at Whitman. The club is Whitman’s chapter of Every Vote Counts, a student-led nonpartisan organization dedicated to voting rights education and legislation.
Engagement matters. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs (left) encouraged students to register, stay informed, vote in every election and call their representatives about issues they care about.
The Power of Youth Voices
Making the most of Hobbs’ visit, students asked how to sustain voter participation, improve educational support for tribal voters and stay motivated when it feels like meaningful change is lacking from leaders.
“If you don’t like what is going on in your city council then you need to do something—and by do something, I mean vote,” Hobbs said. “Sometimes decisions are decided by one or two votes. It is your responsibility as a young college student to grab your friend and get them engaged and to cast their vote.”
Hobbs assured students that their voices matter and emphasized the impact young people can have when they work together—a message that resonated with Russell.
“What Secretary of State Hobbs said about connecting with people in elementary school and middle school really struck home for me,” he said. “So I’m hoping to expand our work into the Walla Walla community.”
Russell first became interested in voter advocacy in high school and deliberately sought out opportunities to continue that work in college. Now a sophomore, he continues to lead the club and hopes to build on last year’s success.
“People at Whitman care. That’s just the culture here,” he said. “Whitman students care about what is going on in the world.”