All Faculty and Instructors Teaching Courses at the University of Pennsylvania Should Accommodate Students Who Wish to Engage in Election-Related Activities on Election Day

Whereas the University of Pennsylvania considers civic engagement to be central to its students’ intellectual experience; 

Whereas the University of Pennsylvania has inaugurated many programs and initiatives to encourage civic education and engagement, including without limitation the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy, Civic House, and the Paideia Program, as well as the long-standing political science department;

Whereas the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Leads the Vote program encourages voting; 

Whereas both the freedom to vote and protection of the right to vote lie at the core of all modern democracies and are core values of the University of Pennsylvania; and

Whereas technology offers the option to allow Penn students to listen to class lectures and otherwise to make up work in the case of important events such as religious or secular holidays; 

Therefore, be it resolved, that:

We, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee of the University of Pennsylvania, shall encourage all faculty who teach courses on Election Day to make the same accommodations for students who may wish to participate in forms of electoral engagement or in some other election-related activities as would be made under the Policy on Secular and Religious Holidays;

We shall make available class recordings, add office hours, and otherwise provide alternative delivery of material to ensure that students who may miss class on Election Day are not disadvantaged or otherwise penalized academically; and

We call on University leadership to include Election Day in its list of Secular and Religious Holidays.

Endorsed: Faculty Senate Tri-Chairs [March 30, 2022]

Endorsed: Faculty Senate Executive Committee [April 20, 2022]