Kennesaw State University’s American Democracy Project and a few other organizations came together Tuesday night to watch President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union Address.
The American Democracy Project has been at KSU for 10 years and is hosted by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. The group strives to motivate civic engagement among students by providing free copies of the New York Times, bringing in speakers and holding events such as this viewing party.
Michael Sanseviro, the associate vice president for student affairs and the dean of students, hosted the event this year in hopes that students would get involved in the political discussion.
“The goal is to get students to think about the importance of politics,” Sanseviro said. “Students need to understand that there’s a whole lot of decisions being made that impact them and their lives that often they don’t have a voice in.”
Aside from the students, Sanseviro himself was excited to watch President Obama’s last State of the Union Address.
“This was an opportunity for us to hear our president talk about issues in a candid manner without necessarily being bridled by the politics of how it would impact his election,” Sanseviro said.
STUDENT TURNOUT
The turnout, however, did not reflect such enthusiasm. Tony James, a graduate student, was the only one who attended the KSU American Democracy Project event. Overall, she said she enjoyed the speech.
“He made great points,” James said. “I enjoyed the fact that he didn’t take sides, democratic or republican, and his sole purpose was to join the two and to make peace.”
James said although she enjoyed watching the president’s address, she was hoping there would be a bigger turnout in order to discuss some of the points being made.
Sanseviro was disappointed as well, but he remained hopeful that students were still politically engaged.
“Even though we might not have had a huge turnout on the campuses in physical body, I hope that students are watching the address, they’re tweeting about it and they’re doing the citizen polls,” Sanseviro said.
However, in a survey of over 200 random KSU students, only 12 percent reported that they watched the president’s last State of the Union Address.
WHAT HE ADDRESSED
Obama kept the address short and optimistic as he reassured people about the ISIL situation, discussed the positive progress of our nation and urged the republicans and democrats to put aside their differences and come together to improve the country as a whole.
He claimed that the United States has the strongest economy in the world, the national deficit has been cut by 75 percent, and 14.1 million jobs have been created. In regards to his famous Affordable Care Act, he noted that 18 million people have gained access to healthcare and, for 90 percent of those, it is the first time in their life that they have been able to do so.
In the midst of an environmental crisis, Obama announced that the foreign oil imports have been cut by nearly 60 percent, and carbon pollution has been decreased more than any other country.
He also reassured the nation that military efforts are not weak. He claimed that the United States has been depleting the resources of ISIL, is successfully preventing some parts of the terrorist organization from spreading, and that the country spends more on its military than the next eight nations combined.
Obama did not spend the entire speech complimenting his own efforts, however. Though there was no direct mention of any of the presidential candidates, he made a comment that many listeners believe was a subtle jab at the politics of Donald Trump.
“When politicians insult Muslims, whether abroad or our fellow citizens, when a mosque is vandalized, it doesn’t make us safer,” Obama said in his speech. “That’s why we need to reject any politics, any politics that target people based on race or religion.”
HEARING FROM THE OTHER SIDE
The Republican response to the president’s address was not quite as optimistic. Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina, delivered the response and challenged many of Obama’s statements.
“Many Americans are still feeling the squeeze of an economy too weak to raise income levels,” Haley said. “We’re feeling a crushing national debt, a healthcare plan that has made insurance less affordable and doctors less available.”
She also claimed that Obama appears either unwilling or unable to deal with the terrorist organization, ISIL.
WHY STUDENTS SHOULD CARE
One of the topics discussed that could potentially impact students was the cost of college. Obama stated that his administration worked hard to lower interest rates and make student loans more manageable. However, the cost of tuition has yet to be tackled.
“We have to make college affordable for every American,” Obama said in his speech. “Providing two years of community college at no cost for every responsible student is one of the best ways to do that, and I’m going to keep fighting to get that started this year.”
“I think sometimes it’s too much for students,” James said after the event in regards to tuition. “When you go to college, you want to educate yourself, but then you think ‘oh my gosh, I’m going to have $50,000 in student loans, what if I don’t get a job within six months, how will I pay for this?’”
According to
Sanseviro, this is one of the reasons he urges students to get involved and
share their voice in order to make a political impact.
