Campus Progress National Keynote Contest: Vote For The Top Student Speaker

Earlier this month, we released a call for submissions for Campus Progress's annual National Keynote Contest. The responses were amazing, and now's your chance to vote on the incredible top six, who speak on topics ranging from gay rights to the DREAM Act.

Three winners will go to Washington, D.C. next month to speak at the conference. VOTE on who you think should go in the poll to the right -- 1 being the lowest ranking, 10 the highest. Voting will end Thursday at midnight. See the winners here!

Let us know in the comments section why you chose the student you did!

Want to see the winners take the stage? Apply to the conference here.

Jamira Burley

• • • • • • One of 16 children, Temple University student Jamira says she hopes to set a good example for her younger siblings and ensure they are afforded opportunities she was not.

Comments

[am46]

11:44 PM on 06/17/2010

Alok, your video is incredible!! Go Alok!!!!!!!

[Shands Pemberton]

11:14 PM on 06/17/2010

My vote goes to Kevin Sanchez. Kevin really puts feet to his words. I have the privilege of knowing Kevin and I know that he is truly making a difference, a crucial difference, for those whose lives he has touched. For many, without Kevin's guidance and mentoring they would find themselves in jail, on the streets, or worse.

[toocool]

10:25 PM on 06/17/2010

do we really want alok? david, jamira and kevin are all talking about vital issues - issues that concern basic inequalities. last time i checked, the ability to devote time to gay marriage was a privilege. how bout we vote for people trying to make REAL change instead of voting for those who want to help the already privileged?

[Clarissa Arlene]

11:20 PM on 06/17/2010

Already privileged? LGBTQ still have a way to go before we get anywhere near privileged. Can you walk down the street holding your lovers hand without being harassed or having death threats yelled at you? I can't just because I love a girl. I walk around with her in fear that someone will beat us or even kill us. No one should live in fear because of who they love. We are all human we all deserve human rights. I'm glad he, among many, is standing up for us.

[toocool]

12:41 AM on 06/18/2010

legalizing gay marriage isn't going to protect you from harassment. and yeah, it is a privilege to fight for gay marriage. it means that you don't suffer from life-threatening oppression. as i said, last time i checked, no one died from not being able to get married, gay or not. gays should be able to get married. but gay marriage isn't a pressing issue. it's a privilege to worry about it. that's all i'm saying.

[Betsy Avila]

10:24 PM on 06/17/2010

Kevin's story is the most touching. I have no doubt that he will deliver an eye-opening speech at Campus Progress. The Youth PROMISE Act is something we cannot afford to overlook.

GO KEVIN!!! :D

[Michele Testa]

08:25 PM on 06/17/2010

Such articulate & passionate candidates !
Best of Luck in all your endeavors !
Comforting to know that there are young folks
in our society who want to make a difference
in our everyday lives! Thank you Peace Alliance
for letting us know about them! Best Wishes to All!

[Lone-Star]

07:50 PM on 06/17/2010

Michael Huerta, statement strongly resonated with me, not only because it was promoting a comprehensive strategy to ameliorate life for all people: illegals, gays, neighbors, and the downtrodden. His call represents a fundamental conservative ethos of helping your neighbors and contributing to society before it was hijacked by supposed family values, corporatist, and demagogues. The fundamental difference is the conservatives believed that providing care for our society should be borne on the individual not the government. The liberals believed that it was the governments job to take care of the people. The truth is government "alone" cannot solve all our problems, it takes individuals, but the conservative movement reneged on their platform and chose to demonize their neighbor and peruse personal advantage. The inability of our society to take care of each other, and treat each other fairly is determinant of each one of us, not our political system. The only way we can truly change the country in a manner that impacts the all Americans, the environment, world safety, and our success as humans is to abandon untenable greed and hatred as the lowest common denominator; replacing it with each other, we need to see the person next to us, down the hall, across the country as family and treat each other as such.

[Vequality]

06:56 PM on 06/17/2010

Go Alok! Definitely Alok. We need to pass DREAM Act and Uniting American Families Act this freaking year!! Too many sad stories already!

[letsgo117]

12:06 AM on 06/18/2010

I think you've got the wrong person! The person advocating for the DREAM Act is David Cho!

[jacarter]

05:55 PM on 06/17/2010

Wow. Alok was just featured on change.org. Go Alok!

http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/the_national_marriage_boycott_bringing_progressive_change_to_a_campus_near_you

[eliv]

05:36 PM on 06/17/2010

Alok's is by far the best.

[eboverli]

04:33 PM on 06/17/2010

I voted for David Cho! He is the only one who showed his public speaking skills, and they were incredible. He is clearly a strong leader and he deserves to win this!

[KUjHwk]

03:31 PM on 06/17/2010

David Cho and the DREAM Act. No-brainer.

[Yangkyu Yoo]

02:58 PM on 06/17/2010

David Cho!
The Dream Act NOW!
The Best speaker!

[JongMin Wayne]

01:30 PM on 06/17/2010

The Dream Act and David Cho just make sense! A passionate advocate with a great heart and speaking voice, he should be there! VOTE FOR DAVID CHO!@ WE WANT THE DREAM ACT NOW!@#

[Sheelue Yang]

11:31 AM on 06/17/2010

David Cho did so well! I vote for him!

[Robert878]

12:26 AM on 06/17/2010

I have personally seen David Cho give a passionate speech at the LA May Day March in front of 200,000 people. I have no doubt that he will be your best candidate/speaker at the Campus Progress Conference.

David fights for the DREAM Act, which would allow undocumented children (who no fault of their own came to this country at a young age) work legally after graduation. Currently, undocumented students do not get any state or federal financial aid and they cannot work legally after graduation. These young students could help improve our debilitating economy by working for this country and paying their taxes. Some of them attend prestigious universities like Harvard and UCLA. Why do we throw away talents and resort to offshoring jobs when we could use students like David?

Here is David on CNN: http://cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2010/05/02/la.immigration.rally.cnn
More info on the DREAM Act: http://dreamact.info/

[RosaPosa]

01:01 AM on 06/17/2010

I just watched the CNN link you posted, and with all due respect, someone screaming into a microphone doesn't constitute a good speaker.

[fiatlux17]

04:25 AM on 06/17/2010

"With all due respect," you should drop the sarcastic attitude and perhaps try to understand what David is trying to achieve when he speaks. When speaking to a large mass, you don't throw figures and facts at them, you stick to a few tangible themes and speak from the heart. That is why David is a great speaker. RosaPosa, what would YOU do to inspire and empower 250,000 people? I can send you audio recordings of Dr. King speaking/yelling for civil rights. Are you telling us that he is not a good speaker? If you could fathom even for a minute the hardships that David and his family have had to endure, maybe you would better comprehend the message he delivers each time he speaks.