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Senior Kristoffer Munden didn’t expect much to happen on his spring break, having decided to spend it catching up on work.
Instead, he wound up shaking hands with the president of the United States.
On March 4, the Friday before spring break week, Munden — president of the College Democrats of Boston College — received an invitation from the White House to take part in a roundtable discussion on bipartisan partnerships and building young people’s interest in civic affairs. The event took place at local high school TechBoston Academy on March 8, the day of President Obama’s visit there.
Obama made a brief appearance toward the end of the roundtable, greeting Munden and the other participants, all representatives from Democratic, Republican and independent student organizations at Tufts, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern. Kalpen Modi, associate director for the White House Office of Public Engagement, was the roundtable moderator. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, White House Senior Advisor David Plouffe and Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes also were in attendance.
“Overall, it was an extraordinarily cordial discussion,” said Munden, a political science major with a minor in history from San Pedro in the Philippines. “Whatever differences we might have, we agreed the big question is, how do we encourage young people’s civic participation? On the one hand, voter turnout for college students tends to be low, yet students are very passionate about political and social issues.”
Munden acknowledges that he was a little nervous about meeting the president (“I wanted to make sure I introduced myself properly, so I kept thinking to myself, ‘I’m Kris Munden and I’m a senior at Boston College’”) — but felt very much at ease when the discussion resumed. In fact, Munden asked Obama for his thoughts on the dilemma of channeling students’ passion into a greater commitment to civic engagement.
Obama told the group that nurturing civic interest can take time, and the results may not be immediately apparent — and he held himself up as an example, Munden noted: “He talked about his own college years and said he wasn’t always that politically active.”
Obama said the under-30 vote in the 2008 election — which one study found was the third-highest total in history — was “an exception,” according to Munden. “He explained that people under 30 years old took more of an interest because he was younger and didn’t fit the usual mold of presidential candidates.”
Although he had seen the president in person before, Munden said the smaller, more intimate setting seemed to suit Obama. “He was articulate, funny and friendly, and you could see he enjoyed talking with us.” Munden said he and his fellow student representatives expressed hope that the discussion could serve as a springboard for future collaborations to encourage their peers’ civic and political involvement.
“We felt this could be a great opportunity to work together, in a bipartisan fashion, to get more students engaged.” Politics isn’t the only thing that’s been on Munden’s mind of late, however. The non-profit charitable organization he founded, Leap Ahead — which seeks to help poor Filipino youths obtain a high school education — recently awarded its first scholarship.
“Her name is Rachel, she’s the youngest in a family of nine, and the only one still in school,” said Munden. “She’s a sweet, articulate girl who someday wants to be a flight attendant so she can travel the world, but her socioeconomic situation puts her at risk of not attending school. The scholarship, however, will cover her tuition and all school-related expenses. We’re really pleased to be able to help Rachel and her family.”
In addition, Munden is preparing to attend a conference next month in San Diego sponsored by the Clinton Global Initiative, a problem-solving organization founded by former President Bill Clinton, and looks forward to starting his job with Teach for America after graduation this spring.
A story about Kristoffer Munden’s involvement in Leap Ahead is available at http://bit.ly/fgyU89