Why Joe Biden will Bring Students’ Voices Back to the White House

During my first semester at the University of Miami, Donald Trump was elected as the President of the United States as students in the campus bar shouted, “Build A Wall!” Prior to that night, my identity was comprised of living outside Edison, NJ, aspirations of becoming a doctor, and being a trained south Asian classical Bharatanatyam dancer. By the next morning, I, like many others, was forced to accept the identities like my gender, race, and evolving sexuality, ones I had not yet considered, let alone embraced, were now being threatened.

I found solace in one phrase highlighted in an email from an organization calling for applications to be a peer educator on sexual violence prevention — It’s On Us. After researching the initiative, I quickly found a video of Vice President Joe Biden saying, “It’s On Us to end sexual assault.” He stood proudly, a representation of the White House taking responsibility for the safety of me and my friends. And so, I decided: if it’s on him, it’s on me.

Within months of months of his inauguration, our newly elected president withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement despite the fact that Florida was notably sinking into the ocean. Compounding my fear, Biden’s White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault was dismantled, and the Title IX guidelines that protected survivors were reversed. However, amidst the dismal political climate, It’s On Us connected me with hundreds of young advocates across numerous colleges and universities fueling a national movement working towards preventing sexual violence and protecting survivor rights. As hearing experiences of rape became a common part of my day, federal leaders were reversing progress for the entire country.

Just 18 months after I became a peer educator, I was waiting in a green room on my 20th birthday for the man who wrote the Violence Against Women act, Joe Biden. Smiling, Joe walked over to thank me for my contributions to It’s On Us and the national movement to end sexual assault. From my perspective, I had merely pointed students towards resources and discussed the grey areas of consent around UM, nothing that had prepared me to introduce the vice president at an It’s On Us mobilizing rally in front of 500 students.

Before I walked on stage, he casually asked, “what’s next?” While the current administration was silencing other bisexual women of color, Biden was listening to me and the communities It’s On Us helped me begin to represent proudly. Joe created spaces where I could challenge beliefs about myself and others in a safe space built for difficult conversations and identifying progress. One conversation with him did not immediately restore my faith in politics, but it reminded me of the national leaders fighting for change with me.

The rally with Joe Biden cemented It’s On Us as a part of my identity. The movement to end sexual assault and promote the healing of survivors took over dinner conversations with my family, my academic path, and eventually my perspective of the world. The confidence I gained after speaking to thousands of peers as a regional advisor helped me wear a pride bracelet at a party with my more traditional Indian family and friends by my senior year. Other friends had similar experiences after immersing themselves in advocacy against climate change, LGBTQ+ discrimination, gun violence, or the many other examples of Trump violating human rights and impeding progress.

As we, the young voters of America, define the political agendas of tomorrow, we must ask, who do we want in the White House listening to us? Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have promised not only to hear our voices, but amplify them in every room they enter, whether we were invited or not. If we feel that it’s on Joe to push the agendas we care about forward, it’s on us to get him to the White House.

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Renu Nargund served as the It’s On Us regional advisor for seven states and Washington D.C in 2019–2020.