University at Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The student reaction to the Vice President's visit at the University at Buffalo was much like the country's opinions on politics. Divided. Most students weren't interested, but those crowded outside to see her wanted to know what she said.
Wednesday afternoon, a large crowd of college students gathered outside the UB Center for the Arts, where Vice President Kamala Harris gave her address regarding the green energy initiatives through the Inflation Reduction Act in hopes to catch a glimpse of the VP.
Related
UB students didn't find out until Wednesday morning that she was coming via email and many students waited outside for hours hoping to see her.
"I wish that there were more of an open invitation to go see her. I think it was all really rushed with the announcement. I think it's good that she's here," said Sol Hauser, UB student.
Do students care that she was here? What political issues do they value, if any? For students studying the environment, like Liam Dimick, who says he was inspired by the green talk, "I think it was [Kamala's speech and presence] very powerful, very inspiring. Especially for someone like me who is majoring in environmental engineering. I'm very passionate about climate change."
"I'm very, very supportive of their moves for the green movement and I know, a lot of other people just around campus are very climate conscious and we're gonna be living here for another 50 years or so, we're gonna have to start caring," Dimick adds.
"Climate change is a huge one [issue], of course, because we're all going to have to live with it and we're all seeing it already. Even with the drought just this summer, we're seeing it right here," said Hauser.
UB student Matt from Queens says he isn't interested in politics, "I personally am not interested in politics. The vice president doesn't do much for me. The hypocrisy and her talking about climate change and then flying private jets probably to get here, kind of ticks me off."
Matt is also not sure whether or not the government can make any lasting impact on climate change, "I think that a lot of college students, especially here, are against a lot of what the politicians do today in terms of climate change and the Green Movement kind of, starts with them. Once they make an effort and show us that they're ready to make an effort, maybe the smaller parts will move in motion."
UB student Torin Steele says he wanted to know what she had to say, even though he isn't particularly fond of the VP, "She's the vice president. As much as I dislike her views on some things, it is important that she came to our school."
Green energy interests Steele. He raises some interesting questions, "How much can we do with what were given? Because we're already kind of past the point of no return. I'm very invested in green energy. There's investments that the government could make, without spending a whole lot of money, that could actually enact change, but it would be disruptive, and that's the issue."
Steele believes that most of his peers think that the Biden administration should be doing more, "I do think that younger people are not as big fans of Biden due to the fact that their expectations for what a president should and can do are growing. Young people always tend to be a little more radical than older generations."
Some students appreciated the fact that the Vice President came to back to Buffalo on this particular date. Wednesday marked the four months since the devastating Jefferson Avenue massacre, where 10 black people lost their lives in a racially-motivated attack at the hands of an 18-year-old white male gunman. Both President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came on separate occasions to visit the scene of the attack and pay respects to the families.
Mayor Byron Brown told reporters after Harris' address that the VP will be meeting with some of the families of the victims of the mass shooting.
Unsurprisingly, all of the students interviewed were in favor and support the Biden administration's decision on student loan forgiveness but some are skeptical.
"It's a step in the right direction, but I don't want to praise him so much like 'Oh, suddenly, everything's okay now, because we got a couple thousands in student loan forgiveness,'" Steele says.