On Wednesday, February 12, the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) club invited state Senator Ryan Fazio to speak in the Wagner room about political involvement to anyone who wished to attend.
The YAF website describes itself as the “leading organization for young conservatives,” with chapters located in more than 2,000 campuses across the country. At NCHS, the YAF club is led by senior Andrew Moor and advisors Ms. Kristine Goldhawk and Ms. Hsuan-Hui Wang, and has been involved in previous events including the placing of flags for the Veteran’s Day display on God’s Acre.
According to Ms. Goldhawk, the YAF club creates a safe community for like-minded individuals. “It’s a safe space for students to get together, talk about political issues at the national level, the state level, or the local level,” said Ms. Goldhawk. “It’s really a place for students to start to figure out what their political ideology is, in a place where they’re not going to feel any kind of judgment for it.”
There were several motivations for inviting Fazio to speak, including his age and political stance. “We wanted someone who is part of the local Republican delegation,” Ms. Goldhawk said. “So we reached out to Ryan Fazio, partially because of the fact that he’s young, he’s in his 30s, and because he’s someone who decided that he wanted to make a difference in not only his life, but in the lives of others.”
During Fazio’s visit, he discussed his own political history, relevant politics, and answered questions from the audience. “He talked about what are the current issues facing the state of Connecticut right now in terms of affordability, the cost of electricity, the cost of housing and what some of his plans were in order to solve those issues at the Capitol,” Ms. Goldhawk said, “He also talked about reaching across the aisle, and how to build coalitions with Republicans and Democrats so you can find a compromise in order to accomplish your goal.”
Ms. Goldhawk was satisfied with the overall trajectory of the meeting. “I thought he was a very good speaker in that regard, in that he really talked to students about what they can do to participate in government,” Ms. Goldhawk said.
Junior Blake DiCaupa, who attended the meeting, enjoyed being able to ask Fazio political questions. “I asked him about steps needed to revitalize the state’s economy and domestic production, while others asked about how he got into politics and topics like healthcare,” said Blake.
Because the meeting was open to the public, it allowed for students of any political affiliation to listen to Fazio speak. “What I hope students took away was that politics is about compromise. It cannot be one party, one way, and the best laws are the ones that work out in collaboration with one another,” Ms. Goldhawk said. “That way, we can really get to what’s going to benefit us.”
That’s not to say Fazio was entirely politically neutral. “He was vocal about economically conservative policies like tax cuts and reforming federal programs, as he is a Republican,” Blake said.
Ms. Goldhawk believes that politically affiliated organizations at NCHS help students with self-expression and defining their political identity. “I think what’s important about having a politically based club is that it provides students with a safe place to actually articulate their points of view, to do some research, and discuss and debate with others,” Ms. Goldhawk said.
