The Final State of the Union
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Summary:
The White House hears from student leaders about a variety of issues.
This week President Obama’s youth liaison, Ronnie Cho, began holding outreach calls with Student Body Presidents from colleges and universities all over the country. These calls will continue to take place in the coming weeks in Northeast, South, Midwest, Southwest and Western States.
The hundreds of Student Body Presidents who dial into these calls hear from Ronnie and give him valuable feedback for how the White House can best move forward. Student leaders have been mobilizing around important issues, and these calls allow students to discuss their ideas and solutions when it comes to our nation’s biggest challenges.
During the calls, students learn about the work that has been done this year to keep young people engaged with the White House. Participants hear about the 100 Youth Roundtables initiative, where administration officials and young people participated in hundreds of roundtables throughout the country, exchanging ideas about the issues they care about most. They also hear about the work the administration is doing surrounding youth entrepreneurship to encourage job growth in new and exciting sectors.
After hearing about what has already been done, the students talk about their experiences on their own campuses and give White House staff ideas for how to continue to engage with young Americans. This time allows the White House to get valuable feedback from innovative young Americans, and also provides a forum for these young people to share their ideas with each other.
President Obama believes that young Americans are not simply the future leaders of our country. Many college students and student governments across the nation have been leaders in making their campuses more sustainable, more cost efficient, and better serving to their students today. Providing a forum for students to share their ideas with each other and the White House will allow for these students to better organize and move our country forward in the months and years to come.
As we have seen in recent weeks, young people continue to push Washington to do the right thing and find bipartisan solutions to our nation’s challenges. The White House will continue to stay connected with these leaders to give the administration insight on how to better serve all Americans.
Isaiah Nelson is an Intern in the Office of Public Engagement.
