From the start of his lecture at Syracuse University Wednesday night, former U.S. representative and presidential candidate Ron Paul appealed to a young audience.

Paul emphasized that college-aged students are at the forefront of a changing political landscape.

“Something is developing in this country and the young generation is going to be very much aware of it because we are already in transition,” he said. “It’s going to be very different. It’s not going to be the conventional Democrats or the conventional Republicans and conservatives vs. liberals. I think the whole world is changing and the United States is right in the middle of it.”

Paul gave compelling, worldly commentary to attendees at Hendricks Chapel during a lecture based on his 2011 book, “Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom.” Paul served 11 terms as a representative for the 14th and 22nd congressional districts in Texas. He ran for president in 1988 as a Libertarian, and in 2008 and 2012 as a Republican.

Paul used his sense of humor and political experience to offer his take on liberty and how young people can change the United States.

When Marissa Fenning, chairwoman of the College Republicans at Syracuse University, introduced Paul, the crowd roared. He engaged and intrigued the audience from the moment he took the podium.

Paul began his lecture with what he hopes to see happen to the U.S. political landscape in the future. Paul said he sees room for change in the “flawed” monetary system, and hopes to see the Federal Reserve Bank resolved one day.

Touching on the theme of his lecture, the former congressman posed the question of what would happen if someone woke up in a system where personal liberty is respected. Paul also emphasized his belief in small government.

“The freer a society, the more prosperous a society,” he said. “We need that understanding by the general population so the politicians realize that the answer isn’t in more government, but the answer is in more personal liberty for individuals to take care of themselves and get the government out of the way.”

Paul spent the rest of his lecture focusing on the importance of personal liberty. He added that he felt small governments protect those liberties better than “big” governments.

“We want a government that is designed to protect our liberties and let us take care of ourselves,” he said.

SU students had mixed reactions to the lecture. Amanda Denardo, a junior international relations major, said she felt Paul appealed to the crowd and their beliefs but dodged crowd questions at the end of the lecture.

“I thought that he did a very good job of advocating to the crowd his views but when it comes down to it, he didn’t answer the crowd questions directly, but rather avoided what the people were actually asking,” she said.

Alex Amico, a freshman broadcast and digital journalism major, said he came to the lecture because of Paul’s name recognition and the intrigue that comes with his political beliefs. He added that the speech was interesting and appealed to current issues.

“Overall I thought it was really interesting. I liked that he touched on the NSA spying and Edward Snowden because that’s a really big issue,” he said. “I thought his ending quote was interesting about going to Cuba whenever one wants to and that really sums up his view on less government being better government.”

Fenning said the process to bring Congressman Paul to SU took months.

“We’ve been in talks with Dr. Paul’s management about this event for several months and determined March 26 as our best date,” she said.

The event was made possible through funding from Student Association, Young America’s Foundation and Collegians for A Constructive Tomorrow, Fenning said.

She added that the past success of speakers put on by the College Republicans led to the lecture with Ron Paul and future events.

Said Fenning: “We have hosted speakers such as Steve Forbes, Ann Coulter, Mike Huckabee and John Stossel the past two years and hope to continue hosting successful events in the future.”

Published on March 27, 2014 at 1:29 am

Contact Justin: jmatting@syr.edu | @jmattingly306