Editorial: It is up to us
The voice of young generation is important today as never before
We are now into week 11 of the semester. Our dorm rooms have become home and our friends family; those carefully curated binders are on the brink of falling apart; and we're starting to daydream about heading back to our hometowns for the holidays.
The semester has chugged along, safely and securely here on campus, but the world around us doesn't stopped.
We go to our classes while people across the country are denied access to healthcare. The nation grapples with issues of gun violence, racism and climate change. We buy a morning cup of coffee while the Russia-Ukranian War is about to go into year 11 and deaths in Gaza top 40,000. We still have places where human rights are violated every second.
Our generation is inheriting a world that’s on fire. And it is up to us to make it a better place.
We are not just heading out to classes here at Central Michigan University: We are gaining education to be able to govern ourselves, make the right choices and create the world that we want.
Our time is now. It is important to remember that our power is in democracy. And the essence and power of our democracy is in fair elections.
Our generation was more engaged in voting in our first election than any generation before us, according to a Tufts University, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) study.
CIRCLE reports that 27% of youth voters cast a ballot in the 2022 midterm elections. Young voters in Michigan turned out at even higher rates: about 37% voted in the last midterm, Michigan’s Youth Vote data shows.
In the November general election, there are going to be over 40 million young Americans who will be able to speak up and make their voices heard. CIRCLE’s poll expects that we will, estimating that 57% of young people are likely to vote.
And while you are creating the world you want by advocating for and voting on issues that concern you, we, your student media, will be watchdogs for democracy.
In the last year, we reported on the Israel and Hamas war and its impact on CMU. We closely observed Central Michigan University's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion promises and reality. We delivered news from two primary elections, got local reactions to updates in the presidential race, covered a voting-spurred civil rights lawsuit and asked the campus about the state of democracy.
And, in case you missed it, we spent the first 10 weeks of the semester bringing you election-related material every Tuesday ... and quite frequently on other days as well.
It is up to you, however, to be engaged and involved in the conversation, to ask hard questions and to tell the people who would govern you what you want. It is up to you whether we will silently watch this world burn or turn on the fire extinguisher.
Our generation has so much empathy, tolerance and a powerful sense of what is right. We have fresh and new views on current issues, diverse backgrounds and different, yet all-important, perspectives. And it is the young generation that inspires change, as history has long shown.
This world needs us. Its future is up to us, and the future starts now.
