Sen. Jamie Raskin talks with students at an event hosted by UMD College Democrats on Dec. 1 in Jiménez Hall.
As part of University of Maryland College Democrats’ effort to bring all Maryland democratic candidates to the campus this fall, state Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-Montgomery) visited the campus Tuesday to speak with students about constitutional rights, civil liberties and current events.
“Constitutional law and the First Amendment are my true passions,” Raskin said Tuesday afternoon to a room of about 40 students in Jiménez Hall.
The senator discussed several policies he’s been behind that relate to civil rights, and took the opportunity to discuss his stances on several issues as he campaigns for the state’s 8th Congressional District this election cycle.
“I applaud the students who are here on this cold, rainy night. It will deepen their political education,” Raskin said. “Democratic politics is really just education. We have to educate people about the process, we have to educate people about the issues.”
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He mentioned that he fought in multiple cases that involved constitutional rights in schools. Many schools across the country are living in “complete blissful ignorance” of what the Constitution says, he said. He cited defending a student-run television program that a school tried to take off the air, and the time he defended a student who wasn’t allowed to show a political tattoo.
“The schools that should have been teaching students their constitutional rights were trampling their constitutional rights,” Raskin said.
In his time as a senator, Raskin has fought on issues including same-sex marriage, voting rights for ex-offenders and climate change. The first time he spoke about promoting same-sex marriage, he said, he was discouraged to do so because it was “too far from the political center” and seemed like an impossible change.
“It’s not my ambition to be in the political center; it’s my ambition to be in the moral center,” he said.
Now that same-sex marriage is legal in the United States, he said he believes in neuroplasticity — the idea that people’s minds can change.
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Sophomore Cayli Baker, the vice president of College Democrats and an English and government and politics major, said she enjoyed Raskin’s discussion of Democrats’ duties and noted that it’s important to “bring the political center to the moral center.”
“We think it’s really important that we engage as many students as possible,” said sophomore government and politics major Jake Polce, president of College Democrats. “Students can make their voices heard.”
Polce explained that candidates such as Raskin care about students, so it is beneficial to interact with them. Raskin echoed that sentiment, adding that he hopes students use opportunities like this one to take their political philosophy beyond what they learn in textbooks.
“His initiatives towards green building, the Purple Line and making Maryland more sustainable was really inspiring,” said junior environmental science and policy major Camille Newell. “It’s nice to see a Democratic leader so invested in the environment.”
In addition to Raskin, College Democrats has brought former Navy SEAL Kristin Beck, Del. Kumar Barve (D-Montgomery) and U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards (D-4th District) to the campus this semester to discuss their congressional campaigns.
“We need to make sure we’re getting students on campus excited, motivated and informed about certain issues coming up in the election,” Baker said.
