Civic Engagement Alliance
The Civic Engagement Alliance (CEA) is a coalition of student organizations at UT Austin working together to increase civic participation through voter registration and education. Our mission is to partner with diverse organizations across campus to make civic engagement meaningful for all UT students. Voter registration is a nonpartisan, community-wide effort, so we aim to reach students in all fields, including those not traditionally connected to civic work. CEA provides participating organizations with voter registration resources, training, a supportive nonpartisan community, and opportunities to collaborate across campus. We aim to inspire students to value civic engagement through our four pillars: voting, volunteering, advocacy, and community building. Through these pillars, we empower students to become informed individuals who carry these lessons beyond their time at UT.
Voting
Volunteering
Advocacy
Community Building
There are many activities that an organization can complete in each category with the help of TX Votes!
Below are ways to participate in each pillar:
Voting
Host TX Votes to give a voter registration presentation at your student organization meeting
Attend a Travis County VDR training session or host TX Votes to provide a VDR training (Must have at least 5 members present)
Submit a photo of members outside a polling site and/or with “I Voted” stickers during election season
Host a guest speaker to discuss issues or candidates on the ballot at your student organization meeting
Volunteering
Complete 30+ hours volunteering with TX Votes
Co-host a volunteer event with TX Votes or partner with a local or on-campus group
Complete a service project with VolunteerUT
Advocacy
Organize or attend a civic advocacy project
Send an advocacy statement to an elected representative on an issue of your choice
Propose an advocacy project at the CEA semester meeting
Community Building
Co-host an event with TX Votes or partner with another on-campus group that is open to all UT students
Organize a social where students can register to vote or learn about civic engagement
Select a delegate to represent your organization at one CEA meeting per semester
Requirements to be a CEA Member
Be a registered student organization at UT Austin
Submit the CEA interest form
Complete at least one pillar per semester
Attend one CEA meeting per semester, where we will discuss the organization's Civic Engagement Plan.
CEA Meetings
CEA hosts one on-campus meeting per semester and asks organizations to send at least one delegate, but all members are welcome. The purpose of CEA semester meetings is to focus on collective advocacy planning for your organization for that school year.
Benefits of CEA Membership
Exclusive access to the Civic Champions Program
Partnerships with other civically engaged student organizations
Support from TX Votes in planning and executing civic activities
Civic Champions t-shirts and TX Votes hats
Civic Champions Program
The Civic Champions Program is an initiative exclusive to members of the Civic Engagement Alliance (CEA). It encourages organizations to stay active in CEA by following our four pillars of civic engagement: Voting, Volunteering, Advocacy, and Community Building.
Recognition Levels
Distinguished Status
Awarded to organizations that complete at least one activity in all four pillars over the course of the 2025–26 school year.
Distinguished Status will get exclusive tickets to the Annette Strauss Institute's annual event, Great Conversations, and be recognized for their achievements.
Exemplary Status
Awarded to organizations that complete at least one activity in all four pillars each semester.
Exemplary Status organizations will be recognized at the final TX Votes meeting of the year and will be eligible for a $500 cash prize.
To participate in Civic Champions:
Be a registered student organization at UT Austin
Submit the Civic Champions candidacy form
Receive formal approval from TX Votes
Key Dates:
Start Date: October 1, 2025
Submission Deadline: April 20, 2026
Recognition & Awards: Winners announced at the TX Votes End-of-Year Celebration on April 23, 2026
FAQs
No. Civic Champions, the CEA, and the Annette Strauss Institute are non-partisan organizations. We welcome students from many different political backgrounds.
Volunteer Deputy Registrars (VDRs) are individuals who are legally authorized to register voters in the State of Texas. Individuals who are at least 18 years of age, are a United States citizen and who meet the other requirements can become VDRs. The goal of VDR training is to register students to become VDRs and expand the number of registered voters in Travis County.
The civically related advocacy projects can involve a wide range of issues and take many forms. These projects do not necessarily have to be “political” in nature. Their aim should be to positively address some systemic or institutional issue faced by the community. They can involve, for example, volunteering, blockwalking, posting flyers, writing emails, or other ways of lending support to a civic issue.
For the Fall 2025 semester, student organizations have from the first day of class until December 4th, 2025. For the Spring 2026 semester, student organizations will have until April 20th, 2026, to complete activities that count toward their participation in Civic Champions.
Keep an eye on our social media page @txvotes_cea and attend semesterly CEA meetings.
For more information, you can reach out to txvotesvdr@gmail.com.
Organizations that currently participate in the CEA
The American Society of Civil Engineers | The Texas Orator | The Engineering LGBQTies | The UT Student Government Women's Resource Agency |
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) | The Communication Council | Seva Charities | The Liberal Arts Council |
BridgeTexas | The Texas Sunshines | Education Council | Socks for the Sole |
Texas Lassos | Partners in Health Engage at UT Austin | Public Relations Student Society of America (Texas PRSSA) | Engineers for a Sustainable World |
Absolute Texxas | Texas Rising | MOVE Texas | The University Democrats |
Hook the Vote | Texas PIRG Student Action |
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Past members of the CEA
Texas Guadaloop | The Texas Product Engineering Organization | Phi Delta Phi | Always Texas | The Society of Women Engineers | Diversity in Advertising and PR | Governmental Relation | The International Affairs Society |
Alpha Xi Delta | The Feminist Action Project | The Latinx Health Professionals Organization | The Black Honors Student Association | Jolt | BridgeTexas | The Urban Studies Society | Students For Planned Parenthood |
Alpha Epsilon Phi | Not on My Campus | Texas Public Health | Texas Spirits | The Society of Physics Students | The Texas Pre-Dental Society | The Natural Sciences Council | Austin Sunshine Camps at UT |
Kappa Delta | Generation United Nations (GenUN) | The Longhorn Young Historians | The Student Engineering Council | DEM Sigma | Students Fighting Climate Change | oSTEM at UT Austin | The UT Senate of College Councils |
UT Student Government | The Senate of College Councils | TEXPIRG Campus Action | Camp Texas | The Campus Environmental Center | Deeds Not Words at UT Austin | Delta Epsilon Mu | Doctors Without Borders at UT Austin |
Friar Society | Graduate Student Assembly | Graduate Women in Computing | The Longhorn Band Student Association | March For Our Lives at UT Austin | The Orange Jackets | Oxfam at the University of Texas at Austin | Punjabbawockeez |
The Student Conduct Advisory Committee | The Texas Blazers | Texas Lambda Alpha Nu | The Texas Lonestars | The Texas Political Union | The American Medical Student Association | The Dean’s Scholars | IGNITE |
The Secular Student Alliance at UT Austin | The State Relations Agency | Texas Ballroom | Texas Hillel | Texas Theta Tau | The Association of Mexican-Americans at UT | Undergraduate Chemical Engineering Women | The Texas Undergraduate Law Review |
Alpha Chi Omega | ADPAC | Austin’s Bright Future | The Hindu Students Association |
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