William Teer (center left), program director for the University of Mississippi's Center for Community Engagement, gathers with student voting engagement ambassadors on the Student Union plaza during National Voter Registration Day in September 2024. The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge has honored Teer for his efforts to promote voter participation in the community. Submitted photo
Award acknowledges Teer’s role in boosting political engagement among college students
By Jordan Karnbach
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge has honored William Teer, program director for the University of Mississippi’s Center for Community Engagement, for leading efforts to promote civic education and voter participation.
The nonprofit awarded Teer its 2025 Standout Administrator Award. The honor recognizes his role in helping register 365 students to vote for the 2024 election, setting a record for the most students registered in Lafayette County in a single election cycle.
The CIRCLE Post-2024 Election Youth Survey, conducted by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University, indicates that electoral participation by young people dropped notably in 2024.
Despite this trend, Teer expressed optimism and humility.
“It was honestly a big surprise, and it affirmed not an individual’s work, more so a collective effort of what our Center for Community Engagement is doing, what our voting ambassadors are doing, what our volunteers, staff and faculty, community members are doing on our voting engagement roundtable,” he said. “Despite lower national turnout, our team saw so much enthusiasm from UM students during the 2024 election cycle.
Teer also leads the Voting Engagement Roundtable, a volunteer group of Ole Miss community members who coordinate nonpartisan voter education initiatives, said Eliot Parker, an instructor in writing and rhetoric.
“The recent growth and success of the Voting Engagement Roundtable can be attributed to William’s leadership,” Parker said. “He is a tireless advocate for the importance of voter and civic engagement on our campus and his enthusiasm and dedication is amazing.
“His student-centered approach to voting and civic engagement derives from his passion for these issues and his support of students. Our success and our connections with students regarding voting and civic engagement would be minimal without his leadership.”
Teer said his award is a reminder that the work goes on, especially in a college town where challenges in voting can arise. For example, students living in residence halls or fraternity and sorority houses cannot use their campus residences as valid mailing addresses for voter registration.
“Students are advised to get a P.O. box for mail delivery,” he said “Our student leaders confirmed approval for our Center for Community Engagement address to be used for any student who resides in Lafayette County and needs a valid mailing address.
“That’s why I’ve been so proud of our team that we were able to register 365 students to vote in Lafayette County alone.”
