Lt. Gov. Delgado encourages students to engage in democracy

Jan. 16—Students from three area schools outlined their ideas to get more young adults to vote and listened as Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado encouraged young people to participate in democracy during a reception at Hartwick College Tuesday, Jan. 16.

"It is very, very good to be with all of you on the heels of the MLK holiday, a very, very meaningful holiday," Delgado said via Zoom. "I hope all of you were able to reflect on his legacy as we continue to hopefully build on his legacy. The Dr. King legacy for me is how I try to ground myself in everything I've done."

Delgado talked about his short stint as a hip-hop artist after he graduated from law school. Even though he had offers from a few law firms after graduation, paying "six figures, I decided to become a broke hip-hop artist instead. What moved me was my heart. What moved me was my desire to figure out how to be true to myself, and ultimately give back to the community."

Delgado talked about the polarization of the country and the "epidemic of loneliness" the COVID-19 pandemic caused. He encouraged students reconnect with people. During Gov. Kathy Hochul's state of the state address, she introduced the Office of Service and Civic Engagement, which Delgado will oversee. The office will create a statewide commission that will connect colleges across the state, create volunteer and paid position opportunities to give back to the community. "If we don't do this, the outcome is more hate, the outcome is more fear," he said.

He encouraged the young people to become engaged in democracy. He said when he graduated from law school he felt disillusioned and didn't feel like engaging in the political system, which was one reason why he became a hip-hop artist — to vent his frustrations. "While that is a value, I think I was shortsighted in understanding that you have to be willing to put yourself out there."

According to statistics on the Hartwick College website only 20.7% of eligible young voters in New York voted in the 2022 mid-term elections. "That means that more than two million eligible young people in New York did not vote, a total that would have easily changed the outcome in any of the statewide political races," the website said.

The Hartwick College Institute of Public Service gave students in the area these statistics and asked them to write a three- to five-page essay or produce a three- to five-minute video suggesting creative ways to better engage young people in democracy. The competition was open to students living in Chenango, Delaware, Herkimer, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, Otsego or Schoharie county.

The college received seven essays and one video during the first year of the competition, Zach McKenney, assistant professor of sociology and co-director of the Hartwick Institute of Public Service at Hartwick College, said. When the college reached out to area teachers about the competition, the teachers encouraged the college to accept video submissions. "We hope to expand it next year," he said.

The top five students were invited to come to Hartwick College Tuesday morning to participate in a panel discussion, eat lunch and listen to Delgado speak via a Zoom call. Each student — Martha Dolan and Chase Birdsall from Unatego; Elias House, Victoria Heilveil, Grace Schultz and Bastian Lee Dudley from Oneonta, and Cooper Cohen from Delaware Academy — paraphrased their essay and answered questions from the audience about their comments. In addition Hartwick Students Brynn Illies, Shanel Dixon and Iyana Blakewood participated in the panel discussion.

Some of the suggestions included: creating a federal holiday so people wouldn't have to work; making voting mandatory like they do in Australia; having polling places at schools so students wouldn't have to travel to a polling place; having term limits or age limits for Congress; moving participation in government course to ninth grade; having mock elections at schools so students could get used to what voting entails; and engaging young people through social media.

Heilveil also suggested New York does what North Dakota does and not require people to register to vote. This would also ensure no one would lose their eligibility to vote if they hadn't voted in a while.

Schultz and Lee Dudley, who produced the only video in the competition, said many young people have they types of jobs that don't give vacation days or time off from work to vote, but should. They said to get people interested in registering to vote and voting, more posts should be made on social media. Taylor Swift posted on social media asking fans to register to vote if they hadn't. Within a day "35,000 people immediately registered," Schultz said.

Schultz also suggested holding mock elections at schools. She said she remembered in fifth grade there was a mock election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Cohen said he would like more children's shows to emphasize the importance of voting.

Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek told the panel the city has commissions he would like to see students serve on and asked the students if anyone was willing to sit on a commission. Heilveil said it is hard for students to make a commitment like that because of after school activities or athletics.

McKenney announced the winners of the contest, and said the Community Foundation of Otsego County sponsored the luncheon and awards. Cohen received first place, Birdsall second, Dolan third, Heilveil and Lee Dudley and Schultz were tied for fourth and House received fifth place.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.