Alumni Reflect on Steyer, Yang Candidacies

In the upcoming presidential race, entrepreneur Andrew Yang ’92 and hedge fund manager Tom Steyer ’75 shared the fourth Democratic Debate stage with 10 other candidates. While Yang’s signature platform is the Freedom Dividend and Steyer has been adamantly pushing for the impeachment of Donald Trump, the two are united by their alma mater, Phillips Exeter.Alumni across classes shared their experiences in politics and reflected on the candidacies of Yang and Steyer. Ultimately, alumni returned to Exeter’s values of knowledge, goodness and non sibi—themes central to public service. Yang is an entrepreneur who campaigns with the vision of humanity first. His primary proposal is to implement the Freedom Dividend, “a universal basic income (UBI) for every American adult over the age of 18: $1,000 a month” in response to automation, the greatest technological shift the world has ever seen.”On the other hand, Steyer is the former head of an investment firm and a non-profit founder. He is running largely to reform the system from the top down to bring more power to the American people and, if elected, will declare a national climate emergency.M Jonathan Garzillo ’83 reflected upon this race and believes the number of Exonian candidates may be a result of the Academy’s privilege. “Perhaps it says more about wealth and politics than the Academy in particular,” he said. “Unless one is an established political entity, it takes billions to make a run.”Both candidates mirror their Exeter education in their campaigns, particularly the Harkness pedagogy, Angel Cordle ’89 noted. “There is still a chance we can talk about ideas,” Cordle said. “I take a little comfort that we have two candidates that value Harkness. The lessons we learned around the Harkness table, about listening to each other, respecting different viewpoints, having the courage to speak, about collaboration, are still ingrained in us Exonians thirty or more years later.”Russell Washington ’87 admires Yang for campaigning with novel ideas. “The fact that he is pushing ideas like universal basic income that are not mainstream and pushing the leading edge of trying to get people to look differently at the issues is pretty incredible, and as a result, he has been gaining a lot of support: his fundraising hall is now catching up to top candidates like Kamala Harris and Cory Booker.”Joe Liu P ’20 & ’18 first met Yang at the 2nd United Chinese Americans (UCA) National Conference in Washington DC, a nationwide nonprofit and nonpartisan federation of Chinese American individuals and other Chinese American organizations. Liu admired Yang’s perspective on the automation and technology advancements and the feasibility and morality of UBI and hosted the fundraising event for Yang’s first visit to Columbus, Ohio. “First, I share many of his democratic views and values,” he said.  “Second, I'm a Chinese American and I'm very much for Chinese Americans in this country (and in the world) to be more engaged in politics and public service for the good of their own community and the general good of all—the country, the world, the human race.”Pang Lee ’93 met Yang in Exeter when they were in the same Chinese language class in 1992 with instructor Ming Fontaine. Lee became interested in Yang’s ideas of paying stay-at-home moms and universities compensating collegiate athletes, and acknowledges the potential of UBI to reduce economic inequality. “[Yang] was always an unconventional guy, even when we first met on campus back in the day,” he said. “I think he is running for the right reasons, in the spirit of public service and to make a positive difference for fellow Americans. Obviously it is not lost on me that he’s the first Asian American running for POTUS and I am especially proud of this fact. But he has not made his ethnic identity a focus or an issue, and has set the right tone in my opinion.”The position of president, some Exonians believe, aligns with Academy values, specifically the non sibi mission. “We tend to perceive politicians as self-serving, but I can attest from personal experience that the cost far exceeds any possible rewards,” Garzillo said. “The balance is far more on the non than the sibi. Irrespective of one's cause or ideology, anyone who throws their hat in the ring is doing it for what they see as a benefit to our society or some segment of it, and I don't see Yang or Steyer as any different.”Even so, no Exonian has made a large positive impact in the presidency as of yet. “So far, the only President the Academy has ever produced is Franklin Pierce, one of the worst presidents ever.” Garzillo said. “For heaven's sake, please, someone raise that average.”Liu emphasized the importance of non sibi and how deeply this value resonates with Exonians, new and old. “I believe this is the true distinction and the most important reason why Exeter has produced generations after generations of leaders in almost every field of human endeavor,” he said. “For more than two centuries, Exonians have contributed greatly to the world for public good, and in doing so, they’ve done themselves good, too,” he said.“Getting into politics and running for offices takes courage, selfishness, sacrifice, and it requires empathy, character and a desire to serve the public—running for President is the highest of all that,” Liu continued.Though these candidates are both on the democratic ticket, Exonians across classes perceived Exeter’s political climate in different ways. “My recollection was that most students saw themselves more as independents than affiliates of any given party,” Garzillo said.  Matt Hamel ’78, on the other hand, experienced Exeter as left-leaning. “While I don’t remember a lot of demonstrations, I do remember that during presidential election years, it was always an exciting time,” he said. “A number of candidates [Ronald Reagan] came through and spoke at assembly or number  the art gallery.” However, Hamel noted the partisan climate of 2019 did not exist in the same way.Similarly, Steve Robinson ’73 felt the student body swung liberal. “I arrived in 1969, a time of rebellion and unrest in the student community as a whole,” Robinson said. “Many of us had older siblings protesting on college campuses. The Academy and the faculty were having trouble coping with the hippie-activist culture in general.”Post-Exeter, certain alumni are more politically active than others. Cordle does not describe themselves as politically active but maintains opinions about certain issues. “I try to stay involved with BLM and I contribute to Yang's campaign,” Cordle said. “But I am frustrated that we are still battling the same demons we fought so passionately during my time at the Academy. The blatant racism of the current US administration and the tremendous support for such racism leaves my classmates wondering how far we really have come.”Others, like Garzillo, are involved in local politics. Garzillo serves as a member of the local zoning hearing board and a planning commissioner for the town. “My wife and I are very involved in local governance,” he said. “If I had to give credit to Exeter, it would be the preparation of four years of the Harkness battlefield that has made me a bit better trained than most for holding my own in-group debate.”Being an Exeter graduate is a privileged position that mandates action, Washington concluded. “If you look at the history of our alumni, the track record is clear—part of our job is to bring knowledge and goodness to communities after Exeter,” he said. “By the time you are 30, 40, 50, you've got to, for crying out loud, do something good for society.”