Congressmen Eric Swalwell (CA-15) and Scott Peters (CA-52) visited UCSD and hosted a student town hall discussion at the Qualcomm Institute Auditorium last Tuesday.
The discussion was part of the Future Forum, a branch of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee that focuses on issues of interest to college students and young adults. The DPCC was created last year to ensure that House Democrats would focus on issues party leaders deemed pertinent to the American people.
During the event, the two congressmen presented speeches about student issues. Afterward, they took questions from the audience through texting — questions appeared on a screen behind the congressmen. Since most of the audience was interested in student loans and debt, the congressmen focused mostly on that issue.
Swalwell, the chair of the Future Forum, had visited eight college campuses across the country in recent weeks to host student town hall meetings prior to visiting UCSD. Peters, who represents the coastal and central portions of San Diego, joined Swalwell in leading the meeting and answering students’ questions on issues ranging from student debt to the environment.
Swalwell, who represents Alameda County in the Bay Area, explained his concerns about students not reaching their potentials.
“San Diego is the ninth city [in the Future Forum series],” Swalwell told the UCSD Guardian. “UCSD has a very innovative student body, but we’re concerned that students may not reach their goals because of student-loan debt.”
Since the Future Forum is designed to focus on issues that concern young adults; it appointed the 14 youngest congressmen to the Forum. Swalwell stated that there should be a focus on our generation’s interests and issues.
“I believe our generation is a very optimistic generation,” Swalwell said during the Forum. “We are a very collaborative and innovative generation, and anything worth changing is worth fighting for.”
Some students in the audience described how they had ideas about businesses and startups they wanted to create. However, they had concerns about how student loans and debt could prevent them from achieving their dreams.
Peters agreed that some students, like those who spoke, are unable to pursue their ideas because of debt and that this negatively impacts the economy.
“Students at universities in San Diego and across the country have creative and new ideas that they want to turn into innovative products,” Peters said. “Unfortunately, many students burdened by student loan debt and facing competitive job markets abandon entrepreneurship, which is harming our economy and our ability to compete in the global marketplace.”
Swalwell also explained that student loan debt is decreasing the number of young adults pursuing entrepreneurship.
“Because of rising student loans, entrepreneurship among young Americans is at a 24-year low,” Swalwell said. “We shouldn’t let student-loan debt hold millennials back from pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams. Universities and colleges can provide the perfect environment to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Angela Phillips Diaz, the executive director of Government Research Relations at UCSD, described in a press release that the university is thankful for the efforts of these congressmen and the two legislative bills that they wrote.
“[UCSD] commends Rep. Peters for his proactive focus on the promising intellectual capacity resident in our students and faculty through incubators and accelerators on campuses such as UC San Diego,” Diaz said. “Raising the visibility of these promising enterprises and the critical role they play in economic development and furthering U.S. competitiveness by enhancing the collaboration between the innovation and intellectual talent resident at our universities directly with the business community can generate impactful results.”
Eleanor Roosevelt College junior William Wylie-Modro described to the Guardian how he felt that the town hall meeting shows that the government is concerned about students.
“The fact that the congressmen are sitting down and talking to the next generation about the problems we can see in society shows that at least part of the government realizes the major dangers of student debt and the accelerating change of the climate,” Wylie-Modro said.
