TV celebrities urge De Anza students: Register to vote!
Actors/ activists Kendrick Sampson and Max Carver took time out of acting to encourage students to register and vote in support of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
May 17, 2016
Two celebrity activists came to De Anza College to encourage students to take action and register to vote before the May 23 registration deadline.
Students rallied in front of the Hinson Campus Center to meet Kendrick Sampson of “How to get away with murder” and “Teen Wolf” actor Max Carver on Thursday, May 12. The duo spoke in support for the Bernie Sanders campaign and encouraged students to register to vote.
“No matter how big or small you feel your platform is, you have influence,” Sampson said. “And you can be a part of the change and you should take part in the change that you want to see.
“If you believe in something; belief and the faith is just the first part you have to have an action with it.”
Young voter turnout has seen a decrease in previous elections. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 38 percent of eligible voters between 18 and 24 years old voted in the 2012 presidential election.
Carver said he is shocked at the amount of young voters who are uninterested, don’t want to vote or feel it is pointless. He said that he wants to help change the way young adults view the political process.
“We are so connected in a way that humanity has never been before,” he said. “This is our opportunity.”
Eddie Cisneros, 22, biology major and president of De Anza Students for Bernie Sanders, credits young adult’s lack of interest in politics on the ”stigma of politics being uncool in society” and the disappointment with perceived corruption.
“It makes really hard for young people to get engaged and it kind of makes them hopeless,” he said.
Cisneross, who was elected state delegate for District 17, said he will attend the Democratic National Convention. He said affordable higher education is one of the most important ideas that Sanders has spoken about.
“I believe he is the only candidate that has proved himself to motivate the youth,” he said. “If we want real, progressive change in our country you have to get us engaged in our political system.”
Diane Gonzales, 21, graphic design major, said she has experienced and witness the struggles in affording higher education.
“My parents are immigrant and students from where I come from cannot afford college.” Gonzales said. “He’s been fighting for our rights for so long.”
David Granado, 20, political science major, said the future of politics and the United States is in the hands of young voters.
“This world is ours,” he said. “We are the future and we need to take our position as leaders to make a better future.”