The award, created by members of the Kennedy family in 1989, recognizes public officials at all levels of government whose actions demonstrate the qualities of politically courageous leadership in the spirit of “,鈥� President John F. Kennedy鈥檚 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book.

Adams, a 1998 graduate of University of Louisville’s , was presented the award by聽Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, on June 9 at the聽聽in Boston, Massachusetts.

According to the library, Adams聽was presented with the award for 鈥渆xpanding voting rights and standing up for free and fair elections despite party opposition and death threats.鈥�

鈥淎s our nation heads to the polls this November to choose the next President of the United States, courageous secretaries of state like Michael Adams are on the front lines protecting access to the ballot and ensuring that our nation remains a beacon of democracy,鈥� Caroline Kennedy, Honorary President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, said in a聽.

鈥淧resident Kennedy鈥檚 admonition to put country before self still resonates today, and rings true now more than ever,鈥� said Adams. 鈥淚 am honored to accept this award on behalf of election officials and poll workers across America who, inspired by his call, sacrifice to keep the American experiment in self-government alive.鈥�

Past winners of the award include former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama, Gerald Ford, and George H.W. Bush, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and U.S. Senator John McCain.

Paula Johnson, a doctorate of nursing practice student, says it is important to pause and commemorate the milestone and think about the advancement of women.聽

鈥淚t is truly amazing that all four of my daughters and I are in school at UofL in the year that we, as women, celebrate our progress in issues of equal rights, including our right to vote,鈥� she said.

With two daughters pursuing engineering degrees, one step-daughter earning a business degree and one step-daughter following in Johnson鈥檚 footsteps to become a nurse, Johnson says she is extremely proud.

鈥淵ou have to do what you love and make a career out of your naturally given talents,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are lots of mountains to go over in school but I encourage the girls to remember they are going over them in order to do what they love.鈥�

For Johnson, it is a passion for nursing, and a goal to teach the next generation.

She has been in the nursing profession for 30 years, including working as an advanced practice nurse for 23 years.

鈥淎fter working so many years as a nurse practitioner, I have a lot to share and want to reflect that to students who don鈥檛 know what we have come from as a profession and where we are going 鈥� why we have to be evidence-based and perform at a very high level,鈥� she said.

Johnson says she had a great opportunity to interact with medical students and residents, along with nursing students while working 14 years for UofL Pediatric Neurology before transitioning to Norton Medical Group – Child Neurology.

She is hopeful for her future, and can鈥檛 wait to see her daughters launch into their own careers upon graduation.

鈥淚 was always guiding my daughters 鈥� asking them what classes they liked in school and helping them figure out what they loved to do,鈥� she said.

And, in the year of this historic centennial and progress of women鈥檚 rights, Johnson says she is reminded they can all strive toward what they dream of becoming.

鈥淥ur institution is proud to receive this national recognition for our efforts. Our faculty, staff, administrators and students are committed to working together to reduce apathy, increase engagement and graduate civic-minded students prepared to solve the most pressing challenges facing our country and the world,鈥� said Pam Curtis, director of the Office of Student Involvement.

UofL won a silver award last year. This is UofL’s first year for a gold award. Data reveals a聽9.7% increase in UofL’s voting engagement since 2014.

Student participation in elections nationwide has increased from the 2014 midterm election to the recent midterm election. According to Tufts University’s National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, voter turnout at more than 1,000 institutions participating in the study increased by 21 points from 19% to 40%.

鈥淲e are excited to honor University of Louisville with an ALL IN Challenge gold seal in recognition of their intentional efforts to increase democratic engagement and full voter participation,鈥� said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. 鈥淢ore institutions like UofL are changing the culture on campus by institutionalizing nonpartisan democratic engagement efforts that are resulting in the incredible student voter turnout rates that we鈥檝e seen across the country.鈥�

The is a nonpartisan, national initiative recognizing and supporting campuses as they work to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement and full student voter participation. The Challenge encourages higher education institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship, and make democratic participation a core value on their campus.

More than 560 campuses, enrolling more than 6.2 million students, have joined the Challenge since its launch in summer 2016.

About 3,800 students voted in this year鈥檚 general election, about 20 percent of the entire student body. Previously, voter turnout has totaled between 6 percent and 15 percent.

A separate runoff election was held for three of the four SGA executive positions. According to SGA鈥檚 constitution, at least 40 percent of votes must go to the winning candidate or a runoff election will be held. The runoff election also had a high voter turnout, with about 2,300 students participating.

SGA president Aaron Vance said this year鈥檚 high number of voters can be attributed to the high level of outreach from UofL鈥檚 SGA as well as a new voting system. Vance also said that the recent campus climate has encouraged students to become more engaged.

This election, SGA used a software system called Blue, which allowed the polls to go out via student email. Blue is the same system used for course evaluations at the university. In previous years, students had to log into ULink and click on several tabs before getting to the ballots.

鈥淲e worked very hard to make voting easier,鈥� Vance said. 鈥淪ending it to student emails took the hassle out of how it was previously done.鈥�

Results for the top four in SGA for the 2017-18 year are:

• Vishnu Tirumala, Student Body President
• Sarah Love, Student Body Executive Vice President
• Jonathon Fuller, Student Body Academic Vice President
• Chris Bird, Student Body Services Vice President

As the new president of SGA, Tirumala will also serve as the student representative on the board of trustees.