[lawrence-newsletter]This past Friday, the NCAA Board of Governors pushed schools to take a mandatory day off on November 3, 2020. Wisconsin’s athletic department responded with a statement in support of the NCAA effort to make sure student-athletes exercise their right to vote. Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez made that clear in Friday’s press release.
“I have asked our coaching staffs to forego athletics-related activities for our student-athletes on Election Day, November 3. Our objective is not to tell them who to vote for. We just want them to exercise their responsibility to have their voices heard and vote. I want to make that as easy as possible for them.”
The statement from the NCAA did not mandate that schools take a day off, but encouraged institutions to push students to vote with a mandatory day off.
“We commend NCAA student-athletes who recognized the need for change and took action through safe and peaceful protest,” said the NCAA in Friday’s release. We encourage students to continue to make their voices heard on these important issues, engage in community activism and exercise their Constitutional rights. Further, we encourage all member schools to assist students in registering to vote in the upcoming national election and to designate November 3, 2020 as a day off from athletics activity so athletes can vote and participate in their ultimate responsibility as citizens.”
In Wisconsin, a major swing state in the 2020 race, the implications of more student votes could be extremely significant in Novemeber.