They say that tomorrow’s future is today’s students, and students here at HCC are rising to the call: full-time students and part-time state legislators.
With the fall session of the Maryland Student Legislature (MSL) just around the corner on November 8th throughout the weekend, members of the HCC delegation are preparing to present their arguments for why their proposed bills deserve to pass.
MSL, a nonprofit student organization run entirely by students across the state, models the Maryland General Assembly (MGA), the legislature here in Maryland, allowing delegates to create and introduce bills that are actually sent to the state’s legislature. Although for this delegation, the civic engagement doesn’t end there.
The HCC club meets up every Tuesday from 4 to 6 PM in room HW249, where HCC students have arguments and debates on a multitude of bills. The cadence is similar to what you might see in Model UN, but the focus is strictly on issues that hit home here in Maryland.
Debate covers everything from the serious, such as proposed Social Media education reform in Maryland, to the lighter, like entering negotiations with Denmark to rename Greenland to “Red, White, and Blueland.”
Heated debate, although passionate, respectful, and is a great place to breed inclusivity and nonpartisanship, where voices of all backgrounds, political, social, religious, can have a say in what they believe in. Other times, it’s fun and engaging to argue for the sake of the devil’s advocate. Either way one decides to approach the conversation, it’s welcome in MSL.
The last meeting had a passionate debate surrounding a bill introduced by another MSL member, regarding Elon Musk and his contribution to Maryland.
The bill stated that due to the grievances that Musk has brought upon Maryland (promising to fund a high-speed train tunnel from Baltimore to DC, which he has failed to do), that he shall no longer use the services of Maryland unless he issues an apology, in the form of 2k checks to each Maryland resident.
The argument was split, the affirmative arguing that Musk does not owe us Marylanders in the first place, and that this is gracious as it is, while the opposition arguing that Musk should actually pay more to Marylanders, as his offenses need to be held accountable. The bill failed to pass, but the heated one-hour debate had everyone on their feet and had everyone having something to say.
Regardless of whether their bills become law, the HCC members are intensely focused on spreading the mission: introducing students to the world of civic engagement and politics, regardless of career path. Their message is simple: civic engagement is for everyone, and the students will lead it.
President Brianna Greene, a Criminology major who aspires to be Attorney General, is introducing her first bill, which proposes allocating funds for the statewide reconstruction of sidewalks.
Rounding out the leadership is Vice President Oluwatimilehin (Timi), a Visual Media major passionate about using film to express political thought and cultural background. The group is working on not just presenting the why behind their bills, but the why that will convince other HCC students to join MSL.
“I think it’s important for people to be involved civically,” Timi says, “If you truly love the people in your life, you should fight for them, and the policies that get discussed in this room are policies that affect the livelihood of them too.”
The MSL also has numerous outings, such as DC Day, where students get to go to the capitol, and meet their congressmen, ask questions, and potentially find opportunities to intern for them.
Some notable stops in past DC Days were the Supreme Court, US Capitol, People’s House, Jeremiah LLP, and Georgetown Law, amongst many others.
For the annual session, students of MSL head to the State House in Annapolis, to sit in the very same seats that the numerous delegates of house and senators across Maryland to pass their bills.
Elections are also held at the annual session, as students get a chance to run for certain positions and be brought to a vote to win for the next school session. More leadership opportunities in MSL are available- from Caucus leadership to Committee chairs, to recruitment teams, working endlessly to spread the word about MSL and bring more and more people.
The HCC delegation is working their hardest to complete this message. All of this to say is that watch out for MSL, as HCC campus will be bound to see more of them popping up in the future, in hopes of bringing more and more students to the world of civic engagement and legislative procedure.
