NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College athletic department announced that it will not conduct any athletic-related activities on Election Day on Nov. 3 and is holding a challenge to encourage its student-athletes, coaches, administrators and staff members to register to vote.

The decision to hold no athletic-related activities will allow Ole student-athletes to have more time and flexibility in their schedule to cast their vote, which they can do on campus in Buntrock Commons.

With all 23 of its student-athletes registered to vote, the volleyball team challenged the other 25 teams and the rest of the department to do so as part of National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 22 with a goal of 100% voter registration.

"We support our Ole student-athletes in using their voice and one of the most impactful ways to do so is through the ballot box," said St. Olaf Athletic Director Ryan Bowles. "Registering to vote is the first step in the process and I know all of our Ole student-athletes, coaches and administrators will rise to the challenge."

Teams who accept the challenge will be sharing videos on social media in the lead up to the election using #AlllOlesVote. You can follow along by following @stolafathletics on Instagram and Twitter.



The voter registration initiative aims to build on St. Olaf's already above-average voter registration and voter turnout rates. In the 2016 election, four out of five St. Olaf student voters registered to vote and 66.2 percent of eligible St. Olaf student voters voted, compared to the national average of 50.4 percent.

For more information on how to register to vote, visit stolaf.edu/vote.