Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate Royce White speaks to students and guests about the election. The College of Republicans hosted an open event with White on Oct. 23 at the Anderson Student Center. (Eli Andersen/The Crest) 
Audience members listen to Royce White’s speaker event at Oct. 23 at the University of St. Thomas. (Eli Andersen/The Crest) 
St. Thomas College Republicans club members converse with White after the event. (Eli Andersen/The Crest) 
Senior William Murphy, president of the College Republicans looks at an audience member at Royce White’s speaker event at the University of St. Thomas. (Eli Anders3n/The Crest)
U.S. Senate candidate Royce White visited the St. Thomas College Republicans Club to talk about his policies on Oct. 23.
White, who was born and raised down the street from St. Thomas, is the Republican candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota. Minnesota State Representative Walter Hudson, a Republican representing District 30A, visited with White.
Senior William Murphy, the president of College Republicans, said it meant a lot to have White visit campus for the speaking engagement.
“It’s a very big thing,” Murphy said. “I think having a candidate tell us college students about what’s going on and why he’s running will be very critical.”
White’s presentation lasted around an hour, and his main focus described his campaign’s specific policies. He said that voters should understand his concerns about debt, border policy and “forever wars.”
“Our country is bankrupt, we have to close our border, we have to end these wars,” White said.
White also shared his concerns about current policy supported by his opponent, incumbent Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar, which he said affects the lives of college students.
“You young people should not need to go fight wars that we can’t win,” White said. “It is up to people in here … to decide there is a better way to do things.”
White emphasized a message of challenging the status quo. As a person of color and former NBA player with no background in career politics, he said that his campaign is anything but normal. He referenced former President Trump’s success as someone who made history by being elected to the presidency having never held office and said that anybody who is overly qualified should make voters skeptical.
“The only qualification I really have is I don’t sell out, and that’s the only qualification you should require from your leaders at this moment in American history,” White said. “Right now we’re in a crisis where the only thing we should be worried about is, ‘Will our politicians sell us out or not.’”
White said that being the first person of color to be nominated by the Republican party in Minnesota for the U.S. Senate has impacted his campaign.
“The mainstream media, they talk a lot about race and identity politics, and marginalized groups, and I grew up with a single Black mother in a very at-risk community,” White said. “They’ve given basically no acknowledgment to that fact. More than anything, it’s just a testament to their own hypocrisy.”
The event brought in a variety of attendees, including College Republican members, White’s campaign volunteers, voters from the community and students from surrounding schools.
Dominica Bernstein, a senior political science major at St. Thomas, was in attendance that evening. She said that she thought White’s message was powerful as a young Black female going into politics, and she appreciates the representation that White brings to the table.
“His overall message was amazing,” Bernstein said. “We don’t have a lot of representation and it’s just really awesome to see people out here using their voice and making a difference in Minnesota.”
Anna Brennan can be reached at bren7501@stthomas.edu.