Gov. Walker tells students about women and politics
As part of National Women’s History Month, Utah’s first woman governor spoke to students and community members at Utah State University about being a woman in office and issues Utah is dealing with now.
“I want to leave a legacy that every Utahn – male or female – can be a policy maker,” Gov. Olene Walker told a full Sunburst Lounge Tuesday.
Walker was asked to speak at USU by members of the MHR 2160: Women’s Leadership Institute class, said Janet Osborne, one of the class team teachers.
Other activities for the week included Tuesday night’s concert in the Taggart Student Center Auditorium and a discussion panel that will be noon on Thursday in the Sunburst Lounge.
“I’m pleased that [Walker] responded to the women in the class,” Osborne said.
This week’s activities were put together in a short period of time, she said, and it didn’t help that last week’s Spring Break interrupted their planning.
“Choosing this person was meaningful to [the students],” she said.
Walker spoke from noon to 12:30 p.m., taking questions at the end. She said she visited local businesses before speaking on campus, and after talking in the TSC, the governor met with Edith Bowen Elementary School students and visited the Space Dynamics Laboratory.
Walker emphasized that Utah needs to become an economic presence in the world.
“Jobs are critical,” she said. “We need our focus to be that of a business-friendly state.”
Walker said jobs will help support students graduating from institutions within the state. She also commended USU for its spin-off companies that have been successful in and out of Utah.
Other issues Walker said need to be focused on include education, changing tax laws, creating a unifying radio frequency across the state, cleaning state watersheds and “making certain we keep Hill Air Force Base.”
Walker said Utah has a third more students in its public schools than any other state. She encouraged everyone there to have children read at least 20 minutes a day.
“That does more for education than anything else we could do in this state,” she said.
Tax laws, she said, haven’t been changed since the 1950s and 1960s.
“We must take a look at it in order to move into the 21st century,” Walker said.
As for creating a unifying radio frequency, the governor said something like that would allow rural towns in Utah to communicate in cases of “accidents, disasters and medical crises.” Walker also encouraged people to carpool and walk more to help the environment and help with population growth.
Walker, who became governor in November after former Gov. Michael Leavitt resigned to take the position as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., recently announced she is running again for governor this year.
“It has been great to have an opportunity as governor,” she said. “I take this very seriously.”
She encouraged women to get as much of an education as possible. She and her siblings “were all expected” to do just that, she said.
After acknowledging that there is no required degree to serve as governor, she said her degrees have opened doors for her during her life.
“We in Utah have a great history for women,” Walker said. “We were the second state to allow women to vote, the first to have a woman senator.”
While encouraging women to run for office, she told the audience not to vote for anyone because they are a man or a woman.
“Vote for someone because they’re qualified,” she said.
Osborne said she was happy with the turnout and that the community had an opportunity to listen to someone in that position.
“It’s important to see and listen to women in key positions,” she said.
-emilieholmes@cc.usu.edu