On Thursday, Sept. 5, Colorado State University welcomed John F. Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, former White House chief of staff and secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under former President Donald Trump, for a discussion with CSU President Amy Parsons.
Kelly discussed civic service, political polarization and the state of U.S. democracy with Parsons as part of the CSU Democracy Project, which is the university’s mission to boost student engagement in democracy and educate students on the political climate in a nonpartisan way.
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In an effort to increase student engagement and widen perspectives, CSU has invited multiple speakers to campus to discuss democracy and political polarization, including former Rep. Ken Buck, Gov. Jared Polis and activist Jane Fonda.
“We as an institution have tried to prioritize bringing a multitude of voices and perspectives to campus,” said Kyle Henley, vice president of university marketing and communications. “We’re really happy to have been able to invite and host some of the top people in the country who are here to help provide perspective.”
By inviting Kelly to CSU, the university hopes to expose students to healthy political dialogue and what civic engagement should look like.
“Our hope is that this can be a fantastic example of how we bring different speakers and different points of view to campus,” Henley said. “How do we demonstrate and create opportunities for our students, our faculty (and) our staff to really hear from folks from different points of view and have conversations about it? How do we demonstrate what a healthy democracy looks like?”
To prepare students for this year’s upcoming presidential election, CSU is doubling down on its efforts to expose students to various beliefs, aligning with the Thematic Year of Democracy.
“You’re going to get left-leaning opinions, right-leaning, and they’re not extreme, but you’ll get different opinions, and then you can make your own decision, but you have to be careful where you get your news.” -John F. Kelly, former White House chief of staff.
“Thousands of our students will be voting in this election for the first time — we are very focused on getting them registered to vote and getting them to participate this fall,” Parsons said. “Our job is to create an environment where every member of our community can become informed and express themselves and … grow in their different views, experiences and knowledge of other people.”
Kelly stressed the importance of commitment to one’s country and the importance of civic engagement beyond serving in the military and voting in elections.
“The level of satisfaction you get out of serving the community, the state, the nation — you can’t imagine it until you do it,” Kelly said. “It doesn’t have to be 45 years in the Marine Corps; it doesn’t have to be military service — there’s a lot of needs out there for Americans to get involved in.”
Kelly also encouraged students to follow events that go on in the country, study the nation’s history and consider a variety of sources and perspectives when making decisions to keep political polarization from increasing in the U.S.
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“You’re going to get left-leaning opinions, right-leaning, and they’re not extreme, but you’ll get different opinions, and then you can make your own decision, but you have to be careful where you get your news,” Kelly said.
Kelly and Parsons closed the discussion by addressing the growing distrust Americans feel toward politicians, which is troubling for the health of the nation’s democracy. However, they remain optimistic for the future.
“There’s good people in Congress, regardless of if you’re Republican (or) Democrat,” Kelly said. “We all, as citizens of our country — whoever’s elected — we take a step back, take a breath. We have a great country, and we’re going to be alright.”
Reach Laila Shekarchian at news@collegian.com or on Instagram @CSUCollegian.
