Former President Bill Clinton was on campus Saturday in an effort to help empower young adults to solve social problems in their communities.
Clinton was the keynote speaker in the third annual Empower Change Summit organized by the American Democracy Institute.
He spoke to the audience about the challenges they will face in the near future.
Clinton said he believes unequal access to resources in education and health care, among other things, will be one of the most difficult problems young people will encounter.
He also discussed the nature of energy use and said young people need to be proactive in effectively and sustainably utilizing resources.
Finally, Clinton spoke about the difficulties of relating to one another in the international community, particularly integrating into the global community while maintaining a personal and cultural identity.
But, while Clinton said the problems to be solved are great, he emphasized the theme of the summit.
He said that anyone, regardless of age, gender, income or time availability, can make a difference in the community.
“There is something everybody can do,” he said. “We need to change the definition of being a good citizen.”
The summit was held in hopes of making democracy and social change more conceptually relevant to young people, said John Hart, founder and CEO of the American Democracy Institute.
The event included other guest speakers, such as Gene Nichol, president of the College of William and Mary, as well as workshops to help young people learn the skills needed to empower themselves and their peers to facilitate social change in their communities.
Melissa Fitzgerald, a former cast member of the television program “The West Wing,” spoke about starting her own organization to help at-risk youth express themselves through theater.
Her organization teams young adults with mentors and actors who help them write and perform short plays about their own experiences dealing with difficult issues such as drugs, violence and racism.
Fitzgerald said she hoped the audience would hear her story and be inspired to take action to make changes in their own lives.
She added that the unique opportunity they have as Americans to speak up and make a difference should not be taken for granted.
“A lot is expected of those to whom a lot is given,” she said.
Nichol closed off the morning’s speakers by addressing what he said he believes are some of the underlying social concerns that young people may have, such as high child poverty rates and inaccessibility to higher education for many.
But, though he said he believed there are many changes to be made, Nichol emphasized that he believes the current generation of young people can make much more substantive changes than before.
“I have an abiding faith in your generation compared to previous generations,” he said.
Hart said he believes it’s important that young people have access to established leaders who can help them direct their enthusiasm to act.
“Young people want to be inspired by their peers and (want the) aspiration value of those who came before them,” he said.
In order to help participants gain community leaders’ perspectives, they also attended workshops regarding topics such as voter engagement and how to make social change a part of their careers. The workshops were designed to help them gain the practical skills necessary to make their ideas a reality, Hart said.
Panelists talked about the importance of networking with peers who share the same goals and building relationships with mentors who can guide them in their efforts.