Retired general offers students advice after election
ORACLE PHOTO/MIKI SHINE
Wesley Clark, retired four-star general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, offered his own perspective on the recent presidential election and what students who feel unsatisfied can do during his speech in the Oval Theater Wednesday night.
“You have to understand just how difficult democracy is,” he said. “It moves toward authoritarianism. If we’re going to keep it from moving that way, we need to have citizens who really deal with information … As citizens of the most successful democracy yet in mankind’s history, if we want to keep it we can’t shut down the media. We have to embrace it. We have to encourage each other and our children to deal with facts as well as emotion.”
Clark was brought as part of a collaboration between the University Lecture Series, Student Government and the Center for Strategic and Diplomatic Studies. The collaboration was established last year, but this was the first event as a result of it. The lecture cost $30,000 and about 100 were in attendance.
“Firstly, get educated. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re not going to be an effective advocate for anyone,” Clark said. “Secondly, you can organize. Students can bring attention to issues like this and they can do it effectively. Right now what we need your organization on is climate change
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