Official White House Photo/ Pete Souza
President Barack Obama works on his State of the Union speech with Director of Speechwriting Jon Favreau in the Oval Office on Jan. 24, 2011.
Last night, President Obama delivered his vision for America’s future. In the coming weeks, his second State of the Union address will be both dissected and bandied, praised and skewered; each phrase and syllable examined from every possible angle and every feasible perspective. But amidst all of the hubbub — despite all of the fanfare and drama that comes natural to this era of polarized policymaking — a voice might just be lost. And for lawmakers to neglect this voice — that is, our voice, the voice of a generation of students across America — would be an imprudent mistake.
After all, the investments that the president has outlined will have the greatest impact not on the generation in power now, but the ones to follow. As such, we, the so-called Millennials, are uniquely qualified to determine whether they are in the best interests of our future — and consequently, the future of America. The answer, as it turns out, is a resounding yes.
Let’s be clear: this is not a question of politics. Rather, it is a question of reality; that is, an honest assessment of the problems we face — and how we might address them.
This begins with the reality of American education. Which is to say, the reality that as many as a quarter of our peers don’t even graduate high school. The reality that we no longer lead the world in college graduation rates. The reality that not all of our peers can get a Rice University-caliber education — that the 3,000 of us here are amongst the most fortunate in the nation. And this unabashedly backward status quo is simply ridiculous in the wake of this increasingly global marketplace where education becomes more and more critical to securing a stable, well-paying profession.
And what of our international peers? Many of them are of the highest academic ability — among Rice’s finest scholars and most distinguished leaders. (I know this firsthand; a few are my closest friends.) And yet, as President Obama pointed out, far too many of them will simply be sent back to their home countries after graduation, with little attempt by the U.S. government to retain this rich infusion of talent within our borders. This is not only silly, but simply irresponsible. How many of these students will go on to be the next Albert Einstein, or Vinod Khosla, or I.M. Pei? Lest we forget, each of these eminent minds arrived as immigrants, but came to thrive in the welcoming arms of the United States.
But the president’s proposals strike a more personal chord as well. Consider his call to greatly increase investments in scientific and biomedical research to the highest levels since the Kennedy administration in the 1960s. For how many of us budding scientists will such investment pave the way for research careers in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields? How many of us will go on to discover the next buckminsterfullerene, or invent the supercomputer of the future, or finally cure cancer? What the Republicans have called “spending” is the key to maintaining America’s technological edge — the key to securing the futures of both our generation, and the many to come.
Finally, a note about President Obama’s appeal for post-partisan policymaking. Few would contest that recent months, we have seen a legislature more divided — and more divisive — than almost any other in history. Is this the example Congress wishes to set for the leaders of our generation? Admittedly, philosophical differences about the role of government do legitimately exist — and might always. Even during the Baker Institute student debate held last fall, for example, no real broad consensus was achieved. That being said, our debate was decidedly civil, and disagreements predicated on issues of policy, not politics. If students — in the fire of our youth — can engage in diplomatic discord, then there is simply no reason to think that lawmakers can’t do the same.
And it’s imperative that they do. The future being won, after all, is our future, and it’s time Congress realized that. President Obama, it seems, already has.
Rahul Rekhi, a sophomore at Rice University, is an ambassador for the Baker Institute Student Forum. He is majoring in bioengineering and economics. Originally from Katy, Texas, Rekhi was the valedictorian of his high school class.