On Wednesday, October 27, the College Republicans hosted Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance. Vance is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which tells the story of his life from his upbringing in Middletown, Ohio to his service in the Marine Corps and to his time at Yale Law School. Before entering the Senate race, Vance worked as a venture capitalist.
Vance spoke to a crowd of over 100 students on a variety of topics including healthcare, student loan debt, vaccine mandates, and the border crisis.
On the subject of education, Vance confronted the tension between protecting first amendment rights and challenging aggressive anti-American messaging on campuses.
“They have a first amendment right to teach whatever the hell they want to. They do not have a first amendment right to hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money to do it,” Vance said, encouraging students to put a “financial corkscrew” on the power of institutions.
Vance also advocated for holding universities responsible for some of the debt that students acquire as a method for driving down the cost of education.
When asked about mask and vaccine mandates, Vance encouraged students to do whatever they can to live a normal life. Speaking about vaccine mandates, he stated that “administrators should not force you to put the shot in your body if you do not want to,” and that “the precedent it sets is pretty deranged.”
Vance expressed his concern for the illegal immigration crisis at the United States-Mexico border, citing it as the greatest single issue the country is currently facing.
“This creates very, very long term problems like how do you integrate them, how do you get them jobs, how do you provide services when we have hospital shortages in America right now? How do you provide for 10 million additional people?” Vance asked.
After the event, Collin Finn, the President of College Republicans, expressed enthusiastic support for Vance’s candidacy.
“He’s a younger guy with a fresh approach that resonates with our generation which is why I think Miami students will vote for him,” Finn said.
Other supporters shared similar optimism, including Landon Halverson, a senior at Miami.
“He is the future of the Republican party,” Halverson stated. “He is pro-growth, pro-family, a new path that puts working people first. He is the only candidate in this race who has put forth concrete solutions.”
When asked what advice he has for conservative students on liberal campuses, Vance delivered an optimistic response.
“Take heart. What we need most of all is people who tell the truth and you can’t do it without courage,” Vance said. “It is hard to be honest on a college campus about who you voted for but I think you have to be honest about it as much as you can because the only way to break through this ridiculous cultural moment we have is to be honest.”
In his remarks, Vance also made a request to students on college campuses.
“Use your education, use your access to the labor market, and you use that social prestige to destroy the system that has made it hard for most of your fellow citizens to live the American dream,” Vance stated.
Vance is running against 12 other candidates to replace Rob Portman, who has held the position for a decade. The primary is scheduled for May 3, 2022. Polls currently show former Ohio treasurer Josh Mandel as the frontrunner in the race with the gap between him and Vance narrowing.