BY NISWANA SHREE RISAL
An ongoing global pandemic. The Capitol insurrection. Two high-stakes presidential elections. A nationwide call for gun control. Deep partisan divisions. Afghanistan. A movement for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright, Ahmaud Arbery and so many others. Accounting for 22.1% of the United States population, young people have lived through one of the most politically tumultuous periods in modern history. We are also one of the most politically active. Generation Z, born between the years 1997 to 2012, voted in droves in the 2020 election — upwards of 55 percent of eligible voters — making the difference in key states for the Biden-Harris ticket. This is perhaps only the first tremor of our impact. For Morgan Watt, president of the Penn State College Republicans, it’s a sign of progress.
conversations in school and by standing up for what I believe in, I can have an impact.” Junior Ladin Suliman, a dual major in philosophy and political science, resonates with this sentiment too. As a member of the Penn State College Independents, he says the candidate is paramount as he’s seen various politicians “who sort of went around parties.” It’s also about open-mindedness. “Being an independent gives you the most flexibility,”says Suliman, “it allows you to be more honest in your engagement with the political realm in choosing the candidate you truly care about, and you think that has the best policies towards the American people.” Suliman, who was born in Philadelphia, has lived “all over the place, really.” In 2008, he moved from Texas to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. There, he experienced contrasting worlds.
Inside a Politically Tumultuous Generation ROOTS OF PASSION “We’re the new voters,” says Watt, “we’re the next generation here!” The senior animal science major grew up hunting, raising livestock on a farm and kayaking with her family in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Since coming to Penn State, her political lens has changed. “With what has happened, I am able to kind of break myself out of that category, I would say,” says Watt, “so, I’m a Republican, I’m a conservative, but I’m not necessarily a Trump supporter.” Watt also says her father, a teacher, “certainly started that fire in me.” “I started watching the news with my dad and following elections with my dad, and it got me really interested,” says Watt, “and I realized that by having
He witnessed women, Muslim or not, being expected to wear an abaya with a headscarf over their heads. Religious police were notoriously strict. “In certain cases, they would hit them in the street,” says Suliman, “publicly in front of other people because of not adhering to these rules.” A third-year, who is a member of the Penn State College Democrats, also attributes his political passion to his upbringing. “Being a Democrat comes from my dad facilitating how I think and feel about certain things,” he says, “I’ve also had the pleasure of talking to a lot of people from different marginalized communities, different countries.” An eighth-grade visit to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia provoked an epiphany. He enlisted in the army his junior year of high school.
