UUP Press Releases

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 27, 2006

UAlbany, SUNY Optometry top registrations
Voter empowerment challenge yields 11,000 new voters on SUNY campuses

The SUNY Voter Empowerment Challenge has registered more than 11,000 students to vote in this November's election.

"We think it's great that these thousands of students are now able to take the future into their own hands and help determine who our elected leaders will be," said William Scheuerman, president of United University Professions (UUP). "As registered voters, they have gained the power to mold the future of their communities and our nation."

UUP -- the union representing 32,000 academic and professional faculty on SUNY's state-operated campuses -- joined with the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the SUNY Student Assembly and Rock the Vote! in the SUNY Voter Empowerment Challenge, a five-week, nonpartisan voter-registration drive involving all 64 SUNY campuses.

Each campus competed to register the most students to vote. UAlbany led the way, registering more than 2,500 students. SUNY State College of Optometry in Manhattan registered the highest percentage of its students to vote, signing up nearly 35 percent of its 292 students

Several other SUNY campuses registered a significant number of students, including Buffalo State with more than 1,500, Stony Brook with nearly 1,300, and New Paltz with close to 1,200.

"Students eagerly registered to vote so they have a voice and can make a difference," said Jerome Garrett, a statewide coordinator for the SUNY Voter Empowerment Challenge and a UUP/NYSUT intern.

"It's great to see so many young people getting involved," said Alex Hanson, Project Coordinator for NYPIRG at UAlbany. "The positive response that our student volunteers received during the voter registration drive will be channeled into a large Get Out the Vote effort between now and the Nov. 7th elections."

The UAlbany campus will be rewarded with a concert. SUNY Optometry will be honored with a ceremony and a plaque.

The registration drive included a variety of events, including candidate forums and visits by
volunteers to classes and residence halls.

UUP represents more then 34,000 academic and professional faculty on 29 New York state-operated campuses, and is an affiliate of New York State United Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO.     

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