2008 Woodie Awards
Senator John Kerry energizes student activists at UMass
Corey Borenstein and Dee van Leeuwen Boomkamp
Issue date: 9/14/06 Section: News
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This past Friday, Senator John Kerry came through the Pioneer Valley to speak at UMass Amherst as part of the Massachusetts Democratic Party's "Massachusetts Victory '06" campaign. In a speech infused with democratic hot-button issues, Kerry asked of his audience, "What kind of difference are you going to make?" and encouraged everyone to take action against the current Republican administration (and congressional majority).
A group of about three hundred students awaited arrival of the senator in the packed UMass Campus Center auditorium. A little over an hour and a half later, Kerry was finally in the building and Student Government Association President Elvis Mendez briefly took the podium to encourage his fellow students to vote and protect higher education through activism. He specifically addressed the current level of corruption on the University's Board of Directors saying that there are a "group of CEOs…running this university and yet we sit here and ask why this university is run like a business." The crowd responded warmly to Mendez's words of civic encouragement before Mendez finally announced the man of the hour, Senator Kerry.
The senator energetically bounded on the stage, quickly ditched his suit jacket, jumped off the stage, meandered around the front of the room and joked around. He apologized to the crowd for being late, joking that "Paris Hilton was [his] designated driver," and proceeded to speak on a wide-range of issues for about forty minutes. His speech was full of all the democratic hot spots ranging from health care to education to the environment to get-out-the-vote drives.
Kerry began his speech with a light-hearted comment on the situations in Washington, DC, saying, "Good news from Washington…It's been five months and Dick Cheney hasn't shot anyone." After some good-natured laughter, his speech quickly became more serious. The senator spoke about the rising costs of public education, the situation of millions of Americans who do not have access to healthcare and how he holds President Bush responsible for his failure to improve either situation. Kerry then berated the Bush Administration for its lack of concern for the environmental challenges that the world now faces. He also blamed the Republicans for derailing all the good work for the environment done by social activists in the 1960s and 1970s. Suddenly, he was speaking about how social activism had changed the world in the past and asking the attending students what they were planning to do to change their country for the better. "When you leave, don't just focus on yourself. Decide to engage, make a change. One person can make the necessary change. Look at Rosa Parks…What kind of difference are you going to make?"
A group of about three hundred students awaited arrival of the senator in the packed UMass Campus Center auditorium. A little over an hour and a half later, Kerry was finally in the building and Student Government Association President Elvis Mendez briefly took the podium to encourage his fellow students to vote and protect higher education through activism. He specifically addressed the current level of corruption on the University's Board of Directors saying that there are a "group of CEOs…running this university and yet we sit here and ask why this university is run like a business." The crowd responded warmly to Mendez's words of civic encouragement before Mendez finally announced the man of the hour, Senator Kerry.
The senator energetically bounded on the stage, quickly ditched his suit jacket, jumped off the stage, meandered around the front of the room and joked around. He apologized to the crowd for being late, joking that "Paris Hilton was [his] designated driver," and proceeded to speak on a wide-range of issues for about forty minutes. His speech was full of all the democratic hot spots ranging from health care to education to the environment to get-out-the-vote drives.
Kerry began his speech with a light-hearted comment on the situations in Washington, DC, saying, "Good news from Washington…It's been five months and Dick Cheney hasn't shot anyone." After some good-natured laughter, his speech quickly became more serious. The senator spoke about the rising costs of public education, the situation of millions of Americans who do not have access to healthcare and how he holds President Bush responsible for his failure to improve either situation. Kerry then berated the Bush Administration for its lack of concern for the environmental challenges that the world now faces. He also blamed the Republicans for derailing all the good work for the environment done by social activists in the 1960s and 1970s. Suddenly, he was speaking about how social activism had changed the world in the past and asking the attending students what they were planning to do to change their country for the better. "When you leave, don't just focus on yourself. Decide to engage, make a change. One person can make the necessary change. Look at Rosa Parks…What kind of difference are you going to make?"
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