Volume1 Issue 1
KANSAN.COM
Page 98
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BARACK CHALK JAYHAWK OBAMA SPEAKS ABOUT CHILD CARE AND AFFORDABLE COLLEGE TO KU CROWD
RILEY
MORTENSON JAN.26,2015
President Barack Obama speaks to a crowd of more than 6,000 in Anschutz Sports Pavilion on Jan. 22, 2015.
from the front of the presidential stage to the very back of the Anschutz Sports Pavilion, audience members waited patiently and erupted into applause at the chance to finally see what many described as a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity.
BEN BRODSKY/KANSAN
on 22.2015
President Barack Obama visited the University on Thursday morning and was greeted by a crowd of more than 6,000 as he took to the podium saying, "It's good to be at KU", in his opening remarks.
Introducing the President was senior Alysa Cole. Cole, a History and African-American studies major and single mother of three, wrote to President Obama in 2013. Cole wrote about issues surrounding affordable child care, education and the struggle between balancing the two.
"Education has maintained such an important role in my life, and during that point time, I was almost forced to make the choice between obtaining an education, working or taking care of my children," Cole said. "I wrote the letter because I did not want to make the choice between the three."
Following Cole's introduction, Obama joked that while he was here for other business, he did take a moment to spend some time with coach Bill Self and the men's basketball team. He also thanked Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little and Lawrence Mayor or Mike Amyx and mentioned Bob Dole and the Dole Center for Politics, which he said he would be proud of, too.
Before diving into the themes
of his speech, President Obama also mentioned his deep roots in Kansas.
"I'm a Kansas guy," Obama said. His mother was born in Wichita, his grandmother grew up in Augusta and his grandfather was from El Dorado.
Obama transitioned to the issues at hand when he pointed out all the high-notes for the year to kick off on, including our economy creating jobs at the fastest rate since 1999, shrinking deficits and our troops coming home.
Obama's topics for the remainder of the speech focused largely on elements he touched on during the State of the Union on Tuesday night. He elaborated on middle-class economics and how to make it work in our country, as well as his ideas on free community college and the increasing the competitiveness of our markets.
He also reiterated equal pay for men and women, which the crowd roared over, and made the idea of assistance with child care more personal by telling the story of his grandparents. His grandfather went off to fight in WWII while his grandmother worked on a bomber assembly line in Wichita.
"This country provided universal child care because they understood that if women are working, they're gonna need some help, right?" Obama said. "And research shows that it was good for the kids, good for the parents, but we stopped doing that."
some hard times, but we've laid a new foundation, Jayhawks," Obama said. "We've got a new future to write. The young people here are gonna write a new future for America. Let's get started right now."
He ended on a note of solidarity as a nation saying we will disagree, but that doesn't mean we have to be divided. We all share a common vision for our future, he said.
Reactions to the speech were overwhelmingly positive and most students were just happy for the opportunity to see a sitting president.
"So, we've made it through
it's 2015, and there's no legal protection at the federal level for getting paid the same as a man," Anees said.
Sabaa Anees, a sophomore from Wichita, said she'd heard President Obama was a really great speaker, but it was amazing to see him in person. To her, one of the most important issues Obama spoke about was equal pay for women.
"He definitely pointed out that
"For me, getting into the health career field, I thought his message about child care or family care was a logical next step after expending so much political willpower over the affordable care act to pass over all the hurdles that it did," Bowman said. "Health care has a lot of moving parts, so it makes sense to involve the family as a unit."
Connor Bowman, a senior from Lenexa, said as a student from the school of pharmacy, healthcare was a big topic for him.
For other students, the journey
to the speech was just as memorable as the speech itself. Alex Cushing, a senior from Chicago got in line to see the President at 4:30 a.m.
Cushing had trouble sleeping the night before because she said she was so excited and realized when she got in line that sleeping in the cold was not an option.
"I'm exhausted," Cushing said.
"My legs hurt, everything hurts,
but it was totally worth it."
Cushing said she got in line to see the president in the wee hours of the morning because "you've got to take advantage of the opportunity to see him in person.
"To be that close and physically there is just a very cool experience," Cushing said. "I'm exhausted, but I'm gonna sleep like a baby."
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