Sen. Bob Graham highlights governmental involvement

January 23, 2018 | By Mary Stucko | casshcommunications@uwf.edu

On Jan. 16, former Sen. Bob Graham, an 18-year U.S. senator and an eight-year governor of the State of Florida, paid a visit to the University of West Florida. During his address he spoke about youth participation in America with governmental affairs.

“Before you can be involved, you have to be aware.” The senator commented in regards to many millennials not showing up to the voting booths in the 2016 election.

Pertaining to the millennial generation, heavy online opinion and inactive feedback in town halls across the United States, he stressed, “Dialogue is the beginning of the process — turn ideas into actions.” Sen. Graham suggested that to see an overarching change, the process starts with individuals making a difference. The senator also suggested that in order for millennials to get involved, they need to know the importance of action pertaining to democracy and how their voices matter outside of social media.

“Before you can be involved, you have to be aware.” ~ Sen. Bob Graham

When asked how to create more civic participation, Sen. Graham suggested the need to both engage in reform restoration of K-12 grades and enact collegiate curriculum for citizenship roles within society. He closed with the following statement, “I hope The University of West Florida continues to strive to be on the list of universities and organizations to lead the push toward democracy inclusion (and education).”

Other speakers included Dr. Jocelyn Evans, associate dean for the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities and professor of government, and Dr. Kelly Carr, assistant professor of communication.

The speeches reached hearts and opened eyes for UWF students in attendance. Abigail Megginson, a communication and political science major, stated, "I've been looking forward to this event since I heard Sen. Graham would be speaking. I left the lecture feeling inspired to help encourage citizenship among my peers and even expand on my own influence. It was refreshing to see someone place faith in millennials, a generation so few still believe in today."

“I left the lecture feeling inspired to help encourage citizenship among my peers and even expand on my own influence.” ~ Abigail Megginson, UWF Student

The event was the inaugural installment of the Seligman First Amendment Lecture Series. Graham’s visit was supported by the Studer Institute in partnership with the UWF CivicCon speaker series.

To learn more about the UWF Seligman First Amendment Lecture Series, visit online at uwf.edu/cassh.

Sen. Bob Graham was the featured speaker at the 2018 inaugural installment of the Seligman First Amendment Lecture Series.