Approximately 15 Boston students got the chance on Monday to talk with U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, about how students can take part in the 2016 presidential campaign season at the Students for Hillary Grassroots Organizing Meeting at Pavement Coffee House on Boston University’s Charles River Campus.
Becerra, a member of the United States House of Representatives from California, touched on the topic of being a minority in politics and the importance of being an active participant in the upcoming election.
As attendees sat around a large table at the coffeehouse, Becerra called upon the students to participate in public policy.
“I look at you [students], and I know people would look at you and say, ‘Gosh, I would like to know what your dreams are, and make sure it happens,’” he said.
Becerra spoke about how students could use Hillary Clinton’s campaign as a motivation to achieve their own goals.
“We got to stand up as Democrats for what we believe,” Becerra said. “I think Hillary Clinton proved to us that you can do anything you want and do it well, if your passion is in it. And I think that’s why she is the best person to become president.”
Becerra added that young Americans should “bite what [they] can chew, and once [they] chew it, chew it with passion,” when it comes to politics to achieve a greater good.
“I’ve never seem an occasion where it’s a mixture of government shutdown, in the same time the governing party at the House of Representatives doesn’t have a leader and can’t find the votes to replace a leader they kicked out,” he said. “It’s not a delusion, it’s real, it’s dangerous.”
Touching the topic of minority female leaders, Becerra asked the female students whether they have felt “contained and dictated” as women, sympathizing that as a Hispanic American, “people expect me to do certain things” although he takes pride in breaking out of that expectation.
“A lot of times people look at Hillary Clinton’s box, and they didn’t look inside,” he said. “You got to look inside her box, because we all are individuals [and] I think the greatest thing for Hillary to become president is she can really break out of that box. Go out there and just break down the barriers. You will be surprised how many people will give you a chance, even though you haven’t been active around.”
Douglas Kriner, a professor of political science at BU’s College of Arts and Sciences, said that both Democrats and Republicans could benefit from student participation, particularly during primaries and caucuses.
“Anyone interested in participating can simply reach out to the campaigns directly, or to a student group on campus, and campaigns will arrange for transportation up to New Hampshire for canvassing and other opportunities,” Kriner said in an email. “Living so close to the first primary state gives students here such a great opportunity to engage in the process first hand.”
Commenting on the small, intimate meeting Students for Hillary had with Becerra, Kriner said that meetings like those would benefit the candidates and participating students.
“To compete in New Hampshire, it is critical for campaigns and candidates to excel in these [more intimate] settings, rather than simply bombarding the airwaves with ads,” he said. “For students and voters, it also means this is a unique opportunity to have direct access to elected officials and to personally meet many of the candidates seeking the presidential nominations.”
At end of the meeting Monday, many students reacted positively to what Becerra spoke of and said the meeting encouraged them to continue their involvement with the presidential campaign.
Jamie Engel, a senior in CAS and the vice president of BU’s chapter of Students for Hillary, said meetings like this one are a great way to keep students interested and informed.
“It’s really exciting to get people involved in politics, in someway it’s particularly exciting that people from all schools come to this event,” she said. “This is sort of our first BU for Hillary event, and it’s inspiring to get [about] 15 students to talk about politics and to find politicians generally interesting and accessible.”
Cassie Moreno, a junior at Northeastern University, said that reaching out to political student groups on campus opens a variety of opportunities for those seeking to actively participate.
“The best thing students can do is to attend meetings like this, whether it’s meetings on their campus [for] College Democrats or their college campus’ chapters for Hillary,” Moreno said.
Emily Moss, a freshman at Wellesley College, said that students make up a large part of the voter population and through taking part in politics, they have the ability to alter the government.
“We do hear from the news about how government is not working, how government is not pushing the needle forward, and how there is so much inaction,” she said. “I think this election is [likely] to really change that, to really get students re-inspired, to really get them involved and engaged in politics. Because we can change that, and we should change that.”
very well written.