Eagle PR campaign targets national debt this fall

Students hold events on OC’s campus to raise awareness of what OC students can do to help solve the problem.

October 24, 2019 - A group of OC students want their peers to show elected officials in Washington that it is time to solve the nation’s federal debt crisis, which is now more than $20 trillion. One event the students organized was a speciality Taking Sides chapel to discuss how OC students can make a change. The chapel took place during Taking Sides Oct. 24 at 11 a.m. in Judd Theater.

For the next month, students across campus are highlighting the need to reach out to elected officials to take notice of and find national debt solutions. Partnering with the national organization Net Impact with their campaign, Up to Us, OC are students holding public events to educate students and the community about the ways in which the growing national debt will harm current and future generations and how this generation can make a difference. In addition, students are providing stations where voters can send a message directly to their elected officials in Washington through the Up To Us pledge.

Net Impact is a nonpartisan organization in which students all over the nation are encouraged to take action against the national debt crisis. Funded by both Republican and Democratic groups, Up to Us encourages all voters to take a pledge asking elected officials to address the problem. Those pledges are sent to each student’s legislators in Washington based on their local zip code, and OC students are trying to make it as easy as possible for others to get involved in solving the debt crisis.

“We were shocked to learn that our national debt is at a staggering $20 trillion,” said OC student Haleigh Evans, from Sallisaw, Oklahoma, and event coordinator for the Up to Us OC team. “If things keep going the way they are, we will reach $33 trillion in debt in the next 10 years.”

Student team leader Elizabeth Killough, from Houston, Texas, believes the campaign will help more people realize that national debt is an urgent issue. 

“Every student is affected by the national debt problem whether we realize it or not,” Killough said. “It is time for us to consider what we can do to help the problem and to benefit the generations that are coming after us.”

OC students have already had a kick-off event this month with Taking Sides chapel and will continue to hold events around campus to continue raising awareness. OC students encourage all individuals to take the pledge at www.itsuptous.org/get-involved/pledge. More information about OC’s campaign is available at www.itsuptousOC.org.