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The Roundtable

Election@Bard and Let NY Vote Coalition Youth Working Group support proposed Student Voter Empowerment Act

By Joe Donahue
Published March 13, 2026 at 11:10 AM EDT

The Student Voter Empowerment Act, which stands before the New York Legislature, seeks to foster informed student electoral participation by requiring New York institutions of higher learning to systematize and expand their engagement with student voters. The legislation comes as student voting at American colleges is increasingly under assault. Joe Donahue discusses the proposal with Jonathan Becker and Sierra Ford.

Jonathan Becker is Executive Vice President, Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College. He is also a Roundtable Panelist.

Sierra Ford is a senior in politics and sociology at Bard College, the co-lead of Election@Bard and Co-Lead of Let NY Vote Coalition Youth Working Group. Next year, she will be pursuing an MA in Education and Policy at Harvard University.

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The Roundtable Jonathan Beckersierra fordyouth votingvoting rightsBard College
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Joe talks to people on the radio for a living. In addition to countless impressive human "gets" - he has talked to a lot of Muppets. Joe grew up in Philadelphia, has been on the area airwaves for more than 25 years and currently lives in Washington County, NY with his wife, Kelly, and their dog, Brady. And yes, he reads every single book.
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