Hillary Clinton is a Shabazz fan.
She’s also a pretty big fan of our university. And pretty appreciative of our entire generation.
In fact, in her talk at the Edmund Fusco Contemporary Issues Forum at Jorgensen Theater on Wednesday night, she dubbed millennials as the “participation generation.”
“Millenials are combining a passion of the heart with a passion for justice,” said Clinton. She called the generation “confident, connected, and open to change,” recognizing the high amount of volunteer work done by young people and their participation in crowd funding endeavors.
This compliment came with a challenge. Clinton called upon millenials to continue this participation in political issues both domestic and abroad.
She posed a question for our generation.
“Do we want to continue to be a country where everyone has an equal shot to participate, or will we leave citizens on the sidelines?” she asked.
Clinton went over three initiatives: opening doors for more female participation, providing education for all children from an early age, and fixing the dilemma of the lack of jobs for young people.
She discussed the last initiative in depth due to the large amount of college students in the audience who would likely be facing similar problems after graduation.
Clinton told the audience about her first job taking care of a park in her early teen years and how valuable she thought this experience was to her life. She expressed a desire for all young people to be afforded similar opportunities.
“When you can’t find that first job you are missing out on a crucial period of professional growth,” she said.
Clinton finished her talk by calling on UConn students to use their education to continue to spread the message of the “participation generation.”
“I hope as you finish your education here, you’ll find ways to help more people enter the circle of opportunity,” she said.
Immediately following the talk, President Susan Herbst joined Clinton for a question and answer session based on questions that students had submitted.
Clinton talked at length in response to a student question about the stagnation and the lack of bipartisanship.
To remedy this, she urged the audience not to support those who say they do not believe in compromise, to look for candidates mature and open enough to listen to both sides, and to actually vote to make a difference.
“If you don’t vote, you cannot complain about what is happening in Washington,” she said.
The event concluded with Herbst presenting Clinton with baby clothes for her soon-to-be grandchildren.
[Images via UConn Today and The Hartford Courant]