Mercyhurst senior Matthew Leach honored for civic engagement
In honor of his commitment to civic engagement, senior Matthew Leach has been nominated to represent Mercyhurst University on the ALL IN Student Voting Honor Roll, which celebrates college student leaders for their contributions to increasing student voter engagement in the 2024 election.
In November, Mercyhurst was recognized as a 2024 Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge and was given the opportunity to nominate one student for outstanding contribution to the cause.
Leach was active in recruiting volunteers to assist at weekly voter registration events and was himself a consistent volunteer from mid-September through Oct. 15. He also worked Election Day.
“Matt was an easy choice due to his sustained efforts to engage the Mercyhurst campus in exercising their right to vote,” said Bethany Woods, director of Academic Community Engagement, who nominated Leach. “He was the most enthusiastic supporter of voter registration and advocating for democratic participation. He graduates this spring, and I wish Mercyhurst had 15 more students like him to carry on that passion for civic engagement!”
Leach, 48, is a veteran and honor student at Mercyhurst, where he is majoring in Social Work and minoring in Religious Studies.
“I felt that it was important to get involved in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge because I believed that my life's story was unique and could motivate others to go the extra mile,” Leach said. “Being a veteran had some influence in my decision, but the main reason I participated was to tell my story and to show that ‘one is NEVER too old to learn!’ I was usually the oldest student in class, and I was even older than most of the professors who taught me, too.”
Leach served 20 years on active duty from 1994 to 2014 with deployments to Okinawa, Japan; Kuwait; and Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S. military's initial response to the September 11th attacks. He also served as a federal police officer for Veterans Affairs stationed in New Orleans and then transferred to the Erie’s VA Medical Center to be closer to family.
His goal is to earn his master’s degree and return to the hospital in Erie to work with veterans as a licensed clinical social worker.
ABOUT the ‘ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge’
The program empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement. Through institutional engagement, direct student engagement, and fostering a national higher education network, ALL IN strives for an electorate that mirrors the country’s makeup and in which college students are democratically engaged on an ongoing basis, during and between elections, and not just at the polls. We believe that a strong, vibrant, and more representative American democracy will result from the greater inclusion of informed college student voters.