By Sian Wilkerson

As a pre-medical student who also is minoring in Spanish and chemistry, Merilyn Arikkat still found time for political science – at least outside the classroom. At Virginia Commonwealth University, the graduating senior has made it a mission to empower her fellow students.

Arikkat is co-executive director of VCU Votes, a student-led, nonpartisan initiative launched by the university to increase student voter registration, education and turnout. During her time at VCU, she worked to promote civic engagement on campus.

This month, she was named to the 2025 ALL IN Student Voting Honor Roll, which recognized more than 200 students from around the country for their work to champion democracy.

“It’s really nice to be recognized,” said Arikkat, who will graduate in May with a degree in biology from the College of Humanities and Sciences. “I’ve been able to learn a lot about all of the challenges that students in other states face [with getting their peers out to vote] and all the tremendous work they’ve put in behind the scenes, [so] seeing … my name next to theirs is the biggest reward and validation that even outside of the VCU bubble, the work we’re doing is helpful and resonates with other people.”

Since 2016, the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge has collaborated with colleges and universities nationwide to institutionalize democratic engagement activities and programs on campuses.

Every year, VCU Votes hosts events on campus and connects with students on social media to provide information on everything related to voting: informing students about upcoming deadlines, helping them find polling locations and telling them how to register or request an absentee ballot.

Kelsey Jones, assistant director for civic and community engagement in VCU’s Office of Student Leadership and Engaged Learning in the Division of Student Affairs, nominated Arikkat for the ALL IN honor after getting to know her through her role as advisor to the VCU Votes Student Coalition.

“Students want to hear from students,” Jones said. “And Merilyn is a student on this campus who is passionate about something that [every student] should be passionate about. I think having students leading the charge really shows how translatable voting is to all different paths of life. And for students in particular, civic engagement is all about how to be a member of your community.”

For Arikkat, VCU Votes was an opportunity to be involved with on-campus civic engagement.

“I really resonated with the nonpartisan message” of VCU Votes, she said. “I feel like we really do our best to put all of the facts and information and resources in front of students and empower them to make whatever choice they want to with all of the information.”

Even with her academic focus on pre-medical studies, VCU offered Arikkat the opportunity to explore her full range of interests both inside and out of the classroom. That was due in large part to her participation in the Guaranteed Admission Program for Medicine.

“I got to decide what’s important to me and make these choices to do things that are maybe unconventional,” she said. “If you look at my educational track, nothing is political science related, but I got the opportunity through college to pick what matters to me and pour my energy into things I feel are important.”

On top of her classroom commitments and VCU Votes, Arikkat is on two research teams, works as a peer academic coach at the Campus Learning Center, volunteers at a local addiction recovery facility for women and captains VCU Ishaara, a competitive fusion dance team.

Eventually, she will head to medical school, but for now, Arikkat plans to devote a year after graduation to community service.

“I’m completely open to all the possibilities and really excited for all the growth and changes that are going to happen in the next chapter, too,” she said.