Hagan encouraged students to head to the polls as early voting began statewide Thursday, particularly because of the new voting law, which ended same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting.
And while most students in attendance supported her campaign, one did not.
Standing outside the building with a sign that read, “Why is Kay Hagan ducking the truth about her stimulus paydays?” was a man in a duck costume. He would not give his name, but said he represents the N.C. GOP Duck.
“It’s sort of a fun way for volunteers to represent their political views without harassing anybody,” he said. “What the duck focuses on is Kay Hagan’s record of attendance in certain things like the Oct. 21 debate.”
Hagan focused on the student loans crisis during her speech, asking the audience how many of them had debt from loans — nearly everyone, including the professional reporters, raised their hands.
“What I’m focused on, obviously being in the U.S. Senate, is having a mechanism so that students can refinance those loans,” she said.
The total amount of student debt in the U.S. stands at $1.2 trillion. She said the state’s constitution claims higher education should be as free as possible, but with an average debt of $23,893 per student in the state, this is not reality.
Wilson Parker, president of UNC Young Democrats and director of state and external affairs for UNC Student Government, said the group was excited to have Hagan speak on campus.
