CIVIC CHAMPIONS
The Civic Champions program is an initiative of the Civic Engagement Alliance (CEA), a coalition of student organizations dedicated to increasing civic participation among UT students. The Civic Champions award encourages students to participate in the CEA by completing activities in four categories of civic engagement:
Voting
Volunteering
Advocacy
Community Building
There are many activities that an organization can complete in each category, but they only need to do one to qualify!
Voting
- Host a member of TX Votes to give a presentation on voter registration during your student organization’s meeting
- Attend a Travis County VDR training session (either with TX Votes or asynchronously)
- Submit a photo of members at the polls
- Host a guest speaker to discuss issues or candidates on the ballot
Volunteering
- Submit proof of at least 30 hours volunteered by members of your student organization
- Host a volunteer event with another on-campus organization or a service organization in the Austin community
- Complete a volunteer project with VolunteerUT
Advocacy
- Organize or attend a civically related advocacy project
- Send an advocacy statement to an elected representative of your choice about an issue of your choice
- Propose an advocacy project at the CEA semester meeting
Community Building
- Host an event that is open to all UT students
- Host a social
- Select a delegate to represent the organization at one CEA meeting every semester
*All activities are due on March 8th
If an organization completes activities in more than one category, it will receive Distinguished Status. If an organization completes activities in all four categories, it will receive Exemplary Status.
Exemplary Status organizations will be recognized at Great Conversations, an annual gathering of students, elected officials, journalists and community leaders. They will also be eligible to apply for a $500 cash prize.
FAQs
What are the requirements to join Civic Champions?
To participate in Civic Champions, individuals must be members of a registered student organization with the University of Texas at Austin, have their organization submit the candidacy form included on the Civic Champions website page, and have their candidacy formally approved by the CEA. The qualifications for being a registered student organization are listed here.
- Do I need to have a specific political affiliation to join?
No. Civic Champions, the CEA, and the Annette Strauss Institute are non-partisan organizations. We welcome students from many different political backgrounds.
- What is a VDR training session?
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.
- What are CEA meetings? Who gets to attend?
As participants in Civic Champions, you are also a member of the Civic Engagement Alliance (CEA). Each semester, the CEA hosts one on-campus meeting and asks each of its members to send at least one delegate to represent their organization at the meeting. However, these meetings are open to all people who are members of CEA-affiliated student organizations. The purpose of CEA semester meetings includes planning a collective semester advocacy project for CEA members.
- What counts as a “civically related advocacy project?”
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.
6. How much time do I have to complete the civic engagement activities?
For the Spring 2024 semester, student organizations have from January 16 (the first day of class) to March 8 to complete activities that will count toward their participation in Civic Champions. (Note: the voter registration deadline for the March 5 election is Monday, February 5th, so activities related to voter registration will have to be completed by then).
7. How can I stay informed about upcoming events and activities?
Keep an eye on our social media page @txvotes_cea and attend semesterly CEA meetings.
8. Who can I contact for more information?
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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