Kerry calls for student voters for 2008 election
Andrea Abi-Karam and John Kavouris
Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: News
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Nobel Peace Prize winner and BU professor Elie Wiesel and civil rights activist and former BU professor Howard Zinn also sent video messages advocating young voter participation at the Race to 2008 weekend conference in the George Sherman Union's Metcalf Hall.
While the forum was proposed to be nonpartisan, the featured speakers brought a liberal sentiment.
Kerry said after seven years of rule under the Bush administration, the younger generation that students represent must take charge and demand change because their demographic has not done enough to address political problems.
"You better believe your generation has a major problem staring at you in the face," the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate said during his 45-minute speech.
The country's foreign policies are aggravating, Kerry said.
"Many of us in Washington are deeply frustrated, and I'm as frustrated as I've ever been for the unwillingness of the system to listen to us," he said. "This is a failed foreign policy. It has not made America safer, and it is not making America safer today."
Also speaking at the summit was Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore, who said he aims to increase student involvement in elections.
"My mission is twofold," he said. "I want to welcome you to the university, and I want you to go beyond 2008."
After giving a history of Boston's political involvement in civil rights - including the abolition of slavery and advancements in gay rights - Elmore encouraged students to "go out and be the person of your generation to speak for yourself."
Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, agreed with Elmore in his brief pre-recorded message, urging students to be engaged in the political process.
"I believe that politics and morality go together," Wiesel said. "The voting process is the foundation of democracy."
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