On Campus
Wonk of the Year John Kasich Gives Energetic Speech in Bender
小蓝视频 awards its Wonk of the Year to an individual who is smart, passionate, focused, and engaged, and uses those attributes to enact meaningful change. On Thursday night, for 2019 WOTY John Kasich, the operative word was听engaged. Kasich mostly dispensed with the lectern and walked around the stage, trying to connect with students in every corner of the Bender Arena bleachers. At one point, he even called on a couple students in the crowd.听
The former Ohio governor, congressman, and Republican presidential candidate delivered his speech with conviction and empathy. The enthusiasm continued during a candid moderated discussion with 小蓝视频 president Sylvia Burwell.听
The student-run Kennedy Political Union hosted Kasich, with 小蓝视频 College Republicans cosponsoring the event.听
Have Big Dreams
Kasich talked about growing up in a small, blue-collar town outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of a mailman and the grandson of a coal miner. He then attended the much bigger Ohio State University. After meeting the OSU president and learning that he knew President Richard Nixon, Kasich had the audacity to write a letter to Nixon himself. Kasich was invited to a meeting with Nixon, which his family assumed wasn鈥檛 real and possibly a scam. But Kasich鈥攁 first semester freshman鈥攕oon found himself outside Nixon鈥檚 Oval Office.听
鈥淎 guy walks up to me and he says, 鈥榊oung man, you鈥檙e going to get five minutes alone with the President of the United States,鈥欌 he recalled. 鈥淲hat I鈥檓 thinking is, 鈥業 have a new jacket, a new shirt, and a new tie, and new pants鈥擨 didn鈥檛 come all the way here for a lousy five minutes.鈥欌
He met with Nixon for 20 minutes, which was longer than he got in the Oval Office during his entire time in Congress. 鈥淲hy does that story matter? Have big dreams,鈥 he said.听
While working as an aide in the Ohio State Senate, his boss was helping Ronald Reagan鈥檚 upstart 1976 presidential campaign. Kasich was suddenly asked to map out delegates in five states for Reagan. 鈥淚 had absolutely no idea what that meant, and I said, 鈥楢bsolutely! I can get that done!鈥欌 he recounted. 鈥淪ometimes you have to learn to fly by the seat of your pants and have confidence that you can figure something out.鈥澨
He told a story about sleeping on a cot at an 小蓝视频 fraternity house, while trying to launch a career in Washington. He eventually got a job working for a former aide to President John F. Kennedy. Kasich met numerous influential Democrats on Capitol Hill, even as he prepared to run as a Republican for the Ohio State Senate. He learned a valuable lesson, which he relayed to 小蓝视频 students: 鈥淣o silos. Don鈥檛 lock yourself in. You鈥檙e young. You got the whole world in front of you, and I want you to take advantage of it in every way that you can.鈥澨
Everyday Heroes
Kasich encouraged students to take action themselves. And to break with polarized political debates, he suggested that people have more power than they realize. 鈥淧residents don鈥檛 matter that much,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hat affects you are the people you live around. Your roommate, your mother, your father, your brother, your sister. Where you live. What you do on a day-to-day basis. The things that you鈥檙e interested in and you care about.鈥
In searching for meaning and truth, he spoke of how each student is made special. 鈥淭here鈥檚 never been anybody like you before, and there will never, ever, ever be anybody like you again. So, you have a destiny and you have a purpose,鈥 he said. 鈥淥n this college campus, I guarantee you that there are many conversations that occur at 2:00 o鈥檆lock in the morning鈥bout 鈥榳hat is my purpose?鈥欌澨
While discussing civil rights and political leaders, he also highlighted a few everyday heroes who are changing the world. He spoke of a shoe shiner at a children鈥檚 hospital in Pittsburgh, who used his tip money to donate more than $200,000 for families who couldn鈥檛 pay their hospital bills. He talked about a nine-year-old boy in Ohio who grew up in a homeless shelter. After his grandmother adopted him and wanted to buy him an Xbox, he implored her to instead use that money to buy blankets for other homeless people. Kasich also exalted kindness from celebrities, including Drake visiting a sick girl in a hospital.听
He also described the courage it sometimes takes to ask for help. After noting how a player in this year鈥檚 NCAA men鈥檚 basketball tournament openly sought mental health treatment, he explained why that鈥檚 an important issue on college campuses. 鈥淭he ability to admit a need is not a weakness. It鈥檚 a strength,鈥 Kasich said. 鈥淢aybe you can be part of that group that leads us out of this wilderness. Where people can begin to admit their problems.鈥
Escaping Silos and Listening
Kasich returned to the idea of escaping your silo and listening to different viewpoints. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing more boring than somebody who can鈥檛 listen. There鈥檚 nothing more boring than people who can鈥檛 explore something they don鈥檛 agree with,鈥 he said.听
He then referred to an earlier conversation he鈥檇 had with Fanta Aw, vice president of campus life and inclusive excellence, about issues in Central Asia and Africa. 鈥淪he鈥檚听interesting!听She鈥檚 not听boring!听I don鈥檛 know if she鈥檚 a Republican or a Democrat. I have no clue. I don鈥檛 care. It doesn鈥檛 matter to me. She鈥檚 just something special,鈥 he said.听
He praised President Burwell, recalling how they worked together on Affordable Care Act-related issues when he was a Republican governor and she was Health and Human Services secretary in a Democratic administration.
During the question-and-answer session, a student asked Kasich what he learned from his presidential bid. 鈥淵ou want to be a successful politician? Let people know you care about them. Listen to them,鈥 he said.
He downplayed the notion that voters and their chosen candidates need to agree on every single issue. 鈥淭he person that鈥檚 going to emerge on the Democrats鈥 side is somebody who can capture a certain imagination, a certain zeitgeist, and a certain sense that, 鈥楾hey know me, they get me, and they care about me.鈥 That is what I think, in the 21st century, people want out of a politician at any level.鈥
Burwell ended the evening with a question about Kasich鈥檚 future presidential aspirations. 鈥淚s there anything that you would like to announce, or say, tonight, to close us out?鈥 Burwell asked.听
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to get in a race that I can鈥檛 win,鈥 Kasich said, before stating that he鈥檚 enjoying writing a book, commentating on CNN, and starting a new business. Yet he added, 鈥淚f all the sudden I felt that I could win and change the country, that鈥檚 another story.鈥