A Community Advocate with Senate Aspirations

Published Date September 27, 2023
News Type College News

Undergraduate student Lauren González (Credit: Majesti Brown)

By Kendhyl Wilder

Lauren González, a third-year BA student at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, has high aspirations for a future in public service.

“I would love to become a U.S. senator for my home state of Texas,” said González. 

Although campaigning for the U.S. Senate is years away, González is already proving her commitment to public service by identifying needed changes in her community and acting on many diverse issues. 

“Public service and civic engagement have always been around me on a smaller scale,” said González, who is majoring in public management, leadership and policy. 

She loved growing up in San Antonio, a city rich in Latino rights. However, as she grew older, she became aware of the disparities within her community. 

Igniting Passion

Read the latest edition of the Glenn College’s Public Address magazine to learn more about González and fellow students who are driving positive change.

Seeing these, along with growing up in a family filled with civil servants, further emphasized the significance of public service, motivating González to actively contribute to her community. 

González started using action and advocacy in high school by creating Teal Week, a sexual violence awareness program dedicated to educating children in grades K-12 on the risks of sexual violence and to supporting students.

What started as the words “sexual violence” on a list of passion project ideas given to her during her internship at Girls Inc. of San Antonio turned into community outreach, research and careful program planning.

González created and posted a survey on social media asking her fellow students about their experiences and knowledge of sexual violence. Not only did the survey get over 100 responses in 24 hours, but she also saw a disappointing trend in sexual violence cases against students. 

“They didn’t understand what was happening to them because it was not taught in school,” González explained. 

González implemented Teal Week at her school, worked with local organizations and testified to the Texas State Board of Education on reforming education, inspiring vital conversations in her district. 

For the upcoming school year, González is working on how she can expand Teal Week, now a student organization at The Ohio State University, to encompass different marginalized communities’ experiences in hopes of ensuring that every person is properly represented. 
  
Teal Week is far from González’s only demonstration of leadership. In Autumn 2022, González called the office of Cesar Chavez, co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, for a project for her Latino Studies minor. She had an insightful conversation with Chavez’s press secretary, where she learned that farmworkers, especially undocumented ones, face great inequity. 

“For most undocumented farmworkers, they do not have rights,” González stated. 
González has always been aware of the hardships of farmworkers from stories from her grandfather, a former farmworker, but did not realize the situation was ongoing.  

“I knew there were issues around it, but in my mind, I thought that was something happening in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s,” said González. 

Although at first González was unaware of the gravity of farmworkers’ struggles, as soon as she became informed, she knew that others needed to be educated on this issue in the hopes of sparking greater conversation. 

In conjugation with her fraternity, she planned and facilitated “Farm to Table: A Town Hall on Farmworkers’ Struggles” featuring experts from many fields. At Ohio State’s Sorority and Fraternity Life Awards, González received three awards for her impressive town hall. 

After the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting, Lauren González participated in the 2022 March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C. 

Also in 2022, González was impacted by the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, only a city over from San Antonio, after she saw the effect on her state. After being so close to the tragedy, González applied to and was selected by March of Our Lives to lobby for gun reform on Capitol Hill. 

Despite the circumstances of the terrible tragedies of gun violence, this was an enriching experience for González. 

“I met people who were there for different reasons but all for a common demon,” González said. “It was heartbreaking to be there, but it was a great learning moment.”   

González has big dreams for the future, all surrounding her love for advocacy. 

“After school, whether I go to grad school or law school, I would love to become an immigration attorney in my home state or work in public policy, whether that’s at the local, state or national level,” she said, “and in some way help my community work on issues I’m passionate about.”  

Kendhyl Wilder is a marketing and communications student assistant at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. She is majoring in public management, leadership and policy at the college and in economics.