Students flock to Bernie Sanders kickoff event

By Anita Alem     9/16/15 6:27am

Rice students came together to “feel the Bern” at the Rice Students for Bernie kickoff meeting at Willy’s Pub on Thursday. Despite the heavy rain, over 100 students were in attendance to support Bernie Sanders for United States president in the 2016 election, according to Student Chapter Leader Alex Amari.

Amari, a Jones College sophomore, said the Rice chapter is one of 200 university chapters for Sanders across the United States and Canada. He said his interest in the campaign sparked in July, when he was the sole applicant to the Sanders campaign for leading a chapter at Rice.

“It’s a cooperative group effort of a lot of people getting together trying to support the campaign, increase political activism on campus and just in general start a discussion,” Amari said. “He is the head of the political revolution that is sweeping this country in the name of Sanders.”

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Amari, a history major, said he believes the middle class in America has been suffering for the past 40 years, with evidence in the wage gap between upper and middle class as well as growing student debt.

“Bernie Sanders is the best chance we have to turn this country around, to make a government that works for the middle class,” Amari said. “This is sincerely what we, Bernie supporters, believe.”

Will Rice College junior Abraham Younes attended the event and said he found the considerable number of students at the event encouraging.

“Rice has been a relatively apathetic campus in recent years, but that can always change, and this campaign in particular feels like a window of opportunity,” Younes said. “Young voters are a huge part of Bernie’s support base, and I know a good number of Rice students are excited about it, so hopefully the momentum keeps up as we get close to the election.”

Amari said he shared the feeling of Rice students being ostensibly politically apathetic, but said students may think themselves to be too busy for political engagement and often lack the outlets to become interested.

“As a freshman, I found myself a little frustrated because I didn’t get the impression that there was a vocal political movement of any kind,” Amari said. “Sometimes you feel like there’s a pervasive climate of political apathy here. We’re trying to change that.” Rice Students for Bernie has three more major events planned for the rest of the semester, according to Amari. On Sept. 24, the group will be having a photoblast for Bernie event as part of a larger national goal for students all over the United States to document their support in photos on social media. The organization will hold a Democratic debate viewing party as well.

“Campuses across the country will have students marching for a few of Bernie’s platforms, that is, college affordability, $15 minimum wage per hour for all campus workers including student workers,” Amari said. “[We’ll have to see if] it actually comes to fruition as a march. I’m hoping we can still have it as an event with a table set-up, sell some T-shirts, make a fuss for Bernie and have some people walking around talking about it." 

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