In W&M’s Year of Civic Leadership, Saylor Barnes ’26 shows how it’s done

Barnes '26 Barnes is a mainstay in William & Mary's Civic and Community Engagement office

Sometimes a part-time job can reveal a passion.

As a first-year student at William & Mary, Saylor Barnes '26 needed a work-study job. "I knew I wanted something hands-on but I also knew I didn't want food service. I had just taken Intro to Public Policy so when I saw the posting for the voter engagement team, I thought, 'Let's try that,'" Barnes recalled.

Four years later, Barnes is a mainstay in William & Mary's Civic and Community Engagement office, so much so that Richard Thompson calls her "my right-hand person."

"The thing that's really special about Saylor is she has learned how to make a difference by being part of the process," said Thompson, associate director of civic & community engagement. "Each year her confidence has grown and there's been a growing understanding about how to relate to people in order to move things forward."

Others took note of her contributions, too. This spring, Barnes was named to ALL IN's 2026 Student Voting Honor Roll, a distinction awarded nationally to undergraduates who have worked to increase "informed participation in American democracy."

"Saylor has been a great connection between the city and the college," said Haley K. Snapp, the city's chief deputy voter registrar. "Her eagerness and love for all things voter engagement will be missed here in Williamsburg."

Barnes, who will be graduating from William & Mary this Friday, will miss the work, too. She has planned voter registration drives, helped out-of-state students figure out how to vote at home and updated social media to promote events.

"My favorite memories of working to engage student voters is tabling at National Voter Registration Day and at Day for Admitted Students," she said. "National Voter Registration Day happens every year in September, and we give away free pizza and t-shirts. DFAS is fun for a lot of different reasons, but I mostly just like getting to talk to people from all over the country about civic engagement."

Ethical leadership

Barnes, who was homeschooled during her high school years, grew up in a number of places; her dad is in the military. Before coming to William & Mary, the family lived in Chesapeake. Barnes was sure she wanted to go to William & Mary because her older sister, Maya Barnes '16, had attended, too.

"Easy decision," she said.

A Pell grant recipient, Barnes has worked her way through her undergraduate years, not only for the voter engagement team, but with Americorps, where she helps out with Head Start, a program for three- to five-year-olds, run by the James City County Community Action Agency.

"She's really good in the classroom with the kids because she's ready to help and really smart," said Joy Jackson, assistant director for youth development in the Office of Civic and Community Engagement, who arranged for Barnes to work at two local Head Start programs. "The teachers were fighting over her, so we had to make an effort to spread her wonderfulness around."

Thompson said her communication skills, first developed in a home-schoolers' speech and debate club, came in handy when asked to write grants to support the voter engagement team's events.

"I had learned how to write a speech before I learned how to write an essay, but those persuasive skills come in handy when you are asking for money," she said. Both of her grant requests were successful, Thompson said.

"That's a pretty big accomplishment for a student, and it is super critical for us to have that money for our promotional efforts," he said. "The voter engagement team is the primary reason for the success we've had."

William & Mary has repeatedly won national recognition as a Voter Friendly Campus and has traditionally had one of the highest voter registration rates among American college campuses.

Barnes, a sociology major with a concentration in social policy and justice and a minor in educational policy and equity, has already been accepted to Virginia Commonwealth University's master's program in social work, but she may do a gap year. She is one of eight children. Several of her siblings have special needs and she wants to stay close enough to her family so she can help with their care.

"Saylor exemplifies what it truly means to be an ethical leader at the Alma Mater of the Nation. She lives it by example," Thompson said. "I'm going to miss her big time."

Susan Corbett, Communications Specialist

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