Resolution for Election Day: All Faculty & Instructors Teaching Courses at the University of Pennsylvania Should Accommodate Students Who Wish to Engage in Election-Related Activities on Election Day
Whereas President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett have signaled the importance of civic engagement by designating the 2020-2021 academic year as the Year of Civic Engagement;
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 there is a need for citizens to serve in election-related roles on Election Day (Tuesday, November 3, 2020), an activity whose importance is heightened by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic;
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.
Initiated: Eric Orts (Senate Executive Committee representative, Guardsmark Professor, Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics, Professor of Management) and Emily Snow (Wharton MBA ’21, GSE ’21).
Endorsed: Faculty Senate Tri-Chairs [September 16, 2020]
Endorsed: Faculty Senate Executive Committee [October 1, 2020]