U.S. Senate hopeful Alan Khazei cited job creation and retention and education reform as the primary goals of his campaign during a discussion last night hosted by Tufts Democrats.
Khazei, a Democrat, is running against incumbent Sen. Scott Brown (R−Mass.) to represent the state, boasting a strong history of social reform through entrepreneurship.
Khazei is the co−founder of City Year, a non−profit that promotes education through intervention and tutoring initiatives. The program became the prototype for former President Bill Clinton's 1993 nationwide AmeriCorps program, which encapsulates Teach for America and other service programs.
Khazei also serves as CEO of Be the Change, Inc. a Boston−based nonprofit organization that encourages grassroots organizing and coalitions with non−profits, policy makers and citizens.
With over 20 years of experience in social entrepreneurship and "empowering young people," Khazei plans to translate his connections, learning and experiences into tangible change in Washington.
"I am running for office because we need new politics that say we will put forward thoughtful, 21st century solutions," Khazei said. "Washington is broken because it's dominated by special interest groups, and we are living off the 20th century model, and we need a 21st century model for education [and the] economy."
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Khazei created City Year with friends from both Harvard and Wellesley College.
"We started with just 50 young people here in Boston, now it has grown to 21 cities, and given 17,000 their first jobs," Khazei said.
Khazei decided to forego the traditional lecture format in favor of a more organic session, and took questions from students regarding his candidacy and their political concerns. Students responded in kind, offering their reasons for participating in Tufts Democrats, along with anecdotes about their direct and indirect experiences with unemployment in the United States.
Khazei said his political platform is centered on large−scale service and citizen involvement in the democratic process.
"There's something stirring in our country," he said. "I'm trying to run a campaign on how to build a sense of common ground to get something done."
The conversation shifted toward Occupy Boston and student efforts in the cause. "I went down [to the protests] last Monday," Khazei said. "What I have learned is you must go to the people and listen. People said they had been called by organizers of the Tea Party, and told, ‘Don't let your movement be taken over by a political party.'"
Khazei cited a 2003 federal motion led by then−Rep. Tom Delay (R−Texas) to cut funding for AmeriCorps as the reason for his move from social entrepreneurship into the realm of politics.
"In 2003, Delay and a group of his friends saw an opportunity to kill the program, with an 80 percent budget cut overnight," he said.
Inspired to "raise a ruckus," Khazei organized a coalition of leading AmeriCorps— affiliated teams including Habitat for Humanity and Teach for America, to campaign both local and federal government members to "raise their voices."
"It was a 100−hour citizen meeting of AmeriCorps workers," he said. "After a week of that, we had 50 members of Congress on our side, and we got a lot of media attention. As a result, we not only saved the program, we got $100 million increase to grow the program by 50 percent."
Khazei urged students to participate in the political process and support his campaign.
"I need people like you to get involved, go door to door," he said. "And if you get involved in this campaign, I'll do the best to keep you empowered."
After the discussion, Khazei entertained questions and comments from students, many of which revolved around criticism of Teach for America for under−training its teachers, consequently sacrificing the academic development of students.
"I've seen the program work," Khazei said, citing examples of successful charter schools such as the Harlem Success Academy and Roxbury Preparatory in Massachusetts.
Khazei stressed the importance of citizen involvement in politics in an interview with the Daily after the event.
"We are at a turning point in our politics right now," he said. "Our political leadership is behaving like they're in high school, not putting the country first. The only answer is for citizens to rise up and put pressure on the system."
Tufts Democrats President Catey Boyle, a junior, was instrumental in bringing Khazei to Tufts. She cited a desire to expose Tufts students to political leaders and offer students an opportunity to create real−life connections with them.
"Khazei embodies the Tufts discussion of active citizenship. It is important to have him come here, along with other senate candidates, as an inspirational person," Boyle said. "His work is a proactive example of citizenship outside of the classroom, the ‘active citizenship' we often talk about."
