Levin praises student civic engagement, American institutions on eve of the election

University President Jonathan Levin ’94 expressed optimism about the future of American institutions while encouraging community members to vote and engage in civic action at a class session of “Election 2024: Democracy on the Ballot” held the night before Election Day.

“As much as there are consequential issues and problems that the country faces, and the election feels existential to many people,” Levin said, “in the history of the world, very few people [get to wake up]  in a country that has as much freedom and as much opportunity as the country and the time that we’re living in.”

Levin said that he is “a huge believer” in American institutions and has “every confidence that whatever happens in the election,” the country will “go on to great things in the future.”

Alongside Levin, the panel featured former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs ’12 M.A. ’12 and four undergraduate public service leaders — Democracy Day chair Jeannette Wang ’26, ASSU President Diego Kagurabadza ’25, StanfordVotes co-chair Aubrey Merrill ’26 and Stanford in Government (SIG) co-chair Christopher Badillo ’25.

Jim Steyer ’78 J.D. ’83 — a professor at the Graduate School of Education and CEO of Common Sense, a nonprofit focused on media education — led the conversation in CEMEX Auditorium.

In an interview before the class, Steyer echoed Levin’s optimism. “I’ve been trying to say this to the students, because they’re all so freaked out,” he said. “You’ve got to believe that we have strong institutions in America, and that there are people here who really believe in that, and that we are not going to succumb.”

Throughout the discussion, Levin refrained from sharing his perspective on the presidential candidates or major issues in the election, emphasizing the focus of the event was on democracy and public service.

“I’m not planning to issue an endorsement of a candidate or take any position on behalf of the University,” Levin told The Daily before the class session. “The purpose of a class like this, or all the [Democracy Day events], is to get students thinking about the issues facing the country, and their role as citizens in the country.”

Turning to the 2024 election, panelists weighed its historic nature and high stakes.

“As long as I’ve been conscious, I think, every four years I’ve heard that this is the most consequential election,” Kagurabadza said. “I think that’s really draining. I think it’s frankly concerning for our democracy, but exhausting to hear at such a young age and growing up.” He attributed feelings of fear to institutions that have failed to “faithfully maintain our democracy.” 

Levin elaborated on this idea, questioning existential rhetoric that suggests “deep instability” and “contributes to the sense of fear about the future of the country.”

Both Harris and Trump’s presidential campaigns, Levin said, use rhetoric that suggests their opponents will bring about the end of democracy. “That’s a very challenging narrative,” Levin said. “I think it makes it very hard to have any sense of unity in the country.”

Tubbs challenged this position. “You have to believe people when they say they’re going to do certain things,” he said, referring to the Trump campaign’s rhetoric. Trump has in recent months promised to eliminate the Department of Education, threatened military force against political rivals within the United States and entertained violence against journalists.

“I’ve never seen a campaign or a candidate who has campaigned so aggressively and so clearly about how authoritarian he wants to govern, about who he’s going to punish, about who’s the in-group and who’s the out-group, and that is terrifying,” Tubbs said. “This is the most important election of our lives.”

The value of public service stood out as a central theme of the discussion.

“This election has been a reminder to me that with the Stanford privilege, purpose has to be connected to it,” Tubbs said. “It’s not enough to be individually successful if the world’s falling apart. It’s not enough to be rich or to be financially happy if we don’t have a democracy, or if we don’t have the right to choose.”

Tubbs, a special advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom who recently announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor in 2026, talked about his path to public service. As a first-generation and low-income student at Stanford after the Great Recession, Tubbs said he was initially drawn to working at Google. He went on to receive a Truman Scholarship and interned for the Obama administration. After his cousin was murdered in Stockton, however, Tubbs began to pursue local government as a way to refocus on his community.

The wide-ranging conversation spotlit political attitudes among Gen Z, with the four undergraduate speakers offering insight into the effects of gun violence, housing affordability, climate change and other social issues on young people’s civic engagement.

Responding to a question from Steyer, Badillo said that economic anxiety was just as relevant to Stanford students as other young voters.

“For me, money and the tensions of an economy were real issues that my family has had to grapple with,” Badillo said. “While Stanford is this amazing place, that doesn’t mean that we all exist outside of the context of the people that we’ve grown up with.”

All four students agreed that Stanford has seen a more robust culture of civic participation in recent years, and leading up to the 2024 election in particular.

Wang, who helped form a “democracy coalition” among non-partisan student groups focused on civic engagement this year, stressed the importance of leaning on fellow students interested in public service. “When you first knock on doors or go to a city council meeting, you feel so awkward,” she said. “It’s easier to look around now and find those people who can be in your public service cohort.”

Merrill said that she has felt “palpable excitement” on campus to get out the vote this quarter. She said she saw students from states like Texas, Mississippi and the Carolinas pursue voting by mail, even when ballots required a notary or witness.

“People are really wanting to make their voice heard this year, and it’s something that’s been really inspiring for me, to see students overcome so much adversity to get their vote counted, to make sure their voice is heard,” Merrill said.

Steyer pointed out that members of Gen Z have voted at higher rates than previous generations in U.S. elections, as of the 2022 midterms.

Although the discussion convened as a class session of the speaker series, course organizers invited all undergraduates to attend regardless of their enrollment. Community members enrolled in the Continuing Studies Program, many of them alumni, also attended, while several thousand people tuned in online.

Jack Schallich ’25, the international issues lead for Democracy Day, attended the class with his parents. His father, Terry Schallich, said that “as a baby boomer, it is encouraging to see people on stage…that are all active in trying to solve some big problems, and that can have open dialogue about it.”

First-year student Chloe Davis ’28, who attended Monday’s class, expressed anxiety about the election and its potential ramifications for American democracy. “It does feel like this election could make or break democracy, in a sense, and I don’t want to see that dissolve,” Davis said. 

For Davis, it was encouraging to hear that members of Gen Z were voting in record numbers, “We can make such a profound impact,” she said.

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