Activist David Hogg visits Penn State, urges Gen Z to get involved with politics
David Hogg fell into activism at 17 years old after he and his little sister survived the Parkland school shooting on Feb. 14, 2018, which left 14 students and teachers dead.
Hogg was in his AP Environmental Science class when he heard gunshots coming from a nearby building. After seeing the fear on the faces of his classmates and his 14-year-old sister, his first instinct was to pull out his phone and interview his peers.
“I knew from my experience in speech and debate that one of the main rhetorical strategies that the (National Rifle Association) uses in these debates about gun control is to say, ‘You can’t talk about this right now because you are politicizing tragedy,’” Hogg said. “ I knew if I interviewed my classmates… that hopefully even if our bodies were left behind on that classroom floor, our voices would carry on and make some kind of change.”
The March For Our Lives founder returned to Penn State after five years on Monday courtesy of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy. In the HUB-Robeson Center’s Alumni Hall, he told his story and spoke about his new venture “Leaders We Deserve,” which aims to get young progressives elected to Congress and state legislatures across the country.
“I knew from my experience in speech and debate that one of the main rhetorical strategies that the (National Rifle Association) uses in these debates about gun control is to say, ‘You can’t talk about this right now because you are politicizing tragedy,’” Hogg said. “ I knew if I interviewed my classmates… that hopefully even if our bodies were left behind on that classroom floor, our voices would carry on and make some kind of change.”
After Parkland, Hogg and some of his peers set out to “become the story” instead of letting others continue the endless debate on gun control sparked 19 years earlier after Columbine. The team started with the Twitter hashtag — #NeverAgain — which quickly built momentum.
From staging walkouts at schools across the country to visiting their state legislature in Tallahassee, Hogg told the audience that the students demanded action that election year.
“We knew instinctively in that moment what many people seem to have forgotten, which is frankly that the only good politician is a scared politician electorally,” Hogg said. ”It doesn’t matter if you say you support stronger gun laws if you’re not voting for them. It doesn’t matter if you say you support increasing safety in our communities if we were not doing the concrete things to actually make that happen.”
Students, faculty and community members in the audience clapped as Hogg discussed the importance of red flag laws, which could have potentially prevented the 19-year-old former student, who repeatedly threatened to shoot up the high school in the past, from buying an AR-15.
Inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, Hogg and his peers organized the largest youth protest in American history in Washington D.C. where they registered tens of thousands young people to vote. Followed by a march in South Side, Chicago, this kick-started a series of marches across the country to show people that gun violence impacts communities every day.
“Young people actually don’t like political parties. They don’t trust institutions. A lot of the time what we say is, ‘Go out and vote for morally just leaders that represent you and your interest and support stronger government,’” Hogg said. “We have to be tactile. We have to support whoever’s going to get us to lifesaving legislation as soon as possible”
Part of Hoggs’ advocacy efforts include inspiring young people to run for office. He shared his experience helping March for our Lives member Maxwell Frost with his political campaign, eventually leading to him becoming the youngest member of Congress.
The McCourtney Institute partnered with PSU Votes, the League of Women Voters and other organizations to host voter registration and information tables at the event in hopes of getting students registered to vote in advance of Pennsylvania’s primary on April 23, McCourtney Institute Communications Specialist Jenna Spinelle said.
Hogg’s visit was the last in a series that included lectures from V Spehar, creator of Under the Desk News on TikTok, and Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide in the Trump White House who testified before the January 6 committee.
“This semester, the McCourtney Institute wanted to focus on speakers who could discuss Gen Z’s role in politics,” Spinelle said. “David Hogg is a leader in this area through his project Leaders We Deserve. ... We also hope students will be inspired by Hogg’s message about the value in young people running for office.”
Spinelle moderated a Q&A session at the conclusion of the event, where students asked for insight on his drive to continue advocacy efforts, being taken seriously as a young activist and the change he’d like to see in the next five years.
For graduate student Maddie Hindman, it was empowering to hear Hogg’s story of turning tragedy into something positive.
Hindman was among several students who were invited by the McCourtney Institute to dinner with Hogg prior to the event. As the president of a voter registration organization on campus, Hindman said she’s interested in getting young people to get out and vote.
“David’s a really powerful speaker. ... Something for me that resonated was how he approaches talking to people who have different ideas than him,” she said. “It’s important to recognize that we can find common ground with other people, and that’s really the first step to making change.”
Holly Overton, an associate professor at Penn State, said she’s always been inspired by Hogg’s work as someone who researches corporate social advocacy, activism and social change.
“Gen Z as a demographic is just changing, not only how we do business, but I think how a lot of us view the world,” Overton said. “It’s just really refreshing to see young people like him and the team that he works with doing such important work for our society.”
