'We need you': Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Northern Arizona University

FLAGSTAFF — Despite a power outage that briefly kept parts of Flagstaff in the dark Tuesday afternoon, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with students at Northern Arizona University about a range of issues, including voting and reproductive rights, immigration, gun violence and climate change.

Harris' visit to the Hispanic-serving institution was the last stop on her nationwide Fight for Our Freedoms College Tour, which also included visits to historically Black colleges and universities this fall. The stated goal of the tour was to focus on issues that disproportionately impact young people and encourage action through voting.

"Your nation is counting on you," Harris told the crowd of students. "We need you."

With a left-leaning crowd before her, Harris echoed rallying cries that resonated, like support for abortion access and calling for an assault weapons ban.

"One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree that the government should not be telling her what to do with her body," Harris said to raucous applause.

When the topic changed a few minutes later, she said, "I'm in favor of the 2nd Amendment, but we need an assault weapons ban, red flag laws."

"It's just reasonable," Harris said, at first barely audible over the crowd's cheers.

Throughout the moderated discussion with co-founder and president of Voto Latino Foundation María Teresa Kumar and actor Jay Ellis, Harris also referenced Biden administration achievements, including committing $1 trillion to address climate change over the next decade.

"The clock is not just ticking; it's banging," Harris said of the issue's urgency.

She also acknowledged that not all communities are impacted equally by climate change and that disproportionate impact needs to be considered when allocating resources and focusing initiatives.

While the crowd was overwhelmingly supportive of Harris and her stances, the event at one point became slightly tense. The vice president fielded a layered question from one student that analogized U.S. immigration and border policy with the unfolding Israel-Hamas war, which prompted some in the crowd to begin yelling phrases including "Free Palestine" and "Stop making bombs."

"It is important that we have a safe, orderly, and fair immigration system," Harris said. "When Joe Biden and I came into office, the first piece of legislation ... that we proposed was a pathway to citizenship. And Republicans in Congress have purposely not picked it up because they have decided it is in their political best interest to create an issue ... that they can then politicize and play games with, and play games with the lives of people.”

She made a point to differentiate Hamas — "a terrorist organization," she said — from Palestinian civilians suffering.

"I believe that Israelis and Palestinians both deserve peace, deserve self-determination, and deserve safety," Harris said to mild applause.

“I am deeply, deeply affected — as I think we all are — by what we have seen in terms of the loss of life and the violence that has occurred," Harris said.

The theme that individuals should be able to live freely and without fear was laced throughout Harris' comments.

"You have a right to live your best life, and you must know that it doesn't have to be this way when we see injustice — when we see those who are attacking liberty and freedom," Harris said. "It doesn't have to be that way."

Northern Arizona University students react to Harris on campus

Before the event, after making it through a long line and into the Ardrey Memorial Auditorium, NAU students gathered in the upstairs lobby to converse while they waited to see Harris speak.

Cassie Freedman, an NAU senior, said she came out to the event because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the vice president. She said she was excited to see what Harris had to say that was NAU-specific and was hoping Harris would tailor her conversation toward liberals and the promotion of the vice president's political party.

“I really hope she chooses to make sure she is kind of promoting the Democratic Party. … I really hope she does speak to somebody who has more left beliefs,” Freedman said.

Rebecca Sandhu, an NAU first-year student, said she was looking forward to seeing Harris talk because she is a political science major. Sandhu said she wanted to hear what the vice president had to say on any topic, not just one in particular.

“It’s a really good experience. I mean, honestly, the vice president coming to your school, especially a woman of color,” Sandhu said. “I thought that it was really interesting.”

After the event, the Arizona Students’ Association, which advocates for higher education affordability and access, held a news conference on the lawn outside of NAU's University Union building to advocate for abortion rights.

The group had several speakers share their experiences with abortion, including NAU Professor Nicole Walker.

Walker said she met Harris before Tuesday's event and was able to tell her about a guest essay she published in The New York Times last year. The essay describes an abortion she was able to get at age 11 and how her life would have been drastically different if she had not been able to get an abortion. Walker said Harris told her her abortion story was important to share.

After Walker spoke and a student took to the stage, Arizona Student Association leaders told the crowd that their biggest ask was for people to come out and share their stories.

Reporter Laura Gersony contributed to this article.

Reach reporter Lacey Latch at [email protected].

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Northern Arizona University