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Regent of the University of Colorado - Congressional District 1 Introductions: Johnnie Nguyen & Wanda L. James (transcript)

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Colorado Congressional District 1 Democratic Candidate Forum's Regent of the University of Colorado - Congressional District 1 session (6:38)

Important Dates:

  • June 20
    • All vote centers open
    • Last day to return your ballot by mail; use only drop boxes or in-person vote centers after this date
  • June 21
    • Last day to register to vote to receive a ballot in the mail (after this date, vote in person)
  • June 28 by 7 p.m
    • Last day to vote (Election Day)

Source & helpful site: June 2022 Primary Election

Other helpful sites:

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#FAQ

Will you be doing the other two positions?

What about the people who don't have competition?

  • I (probably) ain't got time for that. (shrug)

​

#Candidates

Johnnie Nguyen

  • https://www.dgslaw.com/attorneys/johnnie-nguyen
  • https://www.johnnieforcu.com/
  • Recent CU-Law Grad and Non-Profit Leader Johnnie Nguyen announces Candidacy for CU Regent
    • “With skyrocketing tuition rates, issues with affordable housing, and the rise of xenophobia, we need a leader who has a first-hand understanding of these struggles. The next Regent in CD1 needs to be representative of our students, our faculty, and our staff. That’s why I’m running for CU Regent.”
    • "Nguyen’s political experience is vast and entails working on numerous campaigns, being a Colorado legislative aide, co-founding the Colorado Democratic Party’s AAPI Caucus, and many other roles. He also served on the American Bar Association’s (“ABA”) (world’s largest legal association) Board of Directors, overseeing the organization’s $84M budget and operations. Currently, he is an attorney (pending Bar admissions) at Lewis Brisbois LLP where he practices litigation."
  • CU Denver Alumnus Announces Campaign for Regent
    • "he believes he has an intimate knowledge of the CU system based on his extensive experience here as a student and professional."
    • Nguyen told The Sentry, “I have studied for CU, taught for CU, worked for CU, researched for CU, helped in leadership roles for CU, organized for CU, lobbied for CU and even protested for CU.”
    • “I will likely be the only candidate who truly understands what the modern student experience is like, given that I am so fresh from graduating law school,” he said. “I will also be the only candidate who went through school during the COVID era, class on Zoom, no in-person graduation, being charged the same tuition and fees—even though the services weren’t the same—and having to prematurely say goodbye to friends.
    • "according to Ngyuen, the access to education and financial burdens on lower-income families need improvement. Nguyen has identified these as chief issues for his platform. He hopes to fight for more state and federal higher education funding, in addition to advancing racial justice and diversity and inclusion efforts. Nguyen plans to also create a mutually beneficial partnership between the CU Board of Regents and the Colorado State Board of Education."
    • "that this is illustrated by his other platform goals. These goals include addressing student homelessness, sexual assault on campus, mental health resources, and furthering the role CU Athletics play on campus."
    • "the only other attorney currently on the board is a Republican, and he feels that both parties should have legal representation—a role that he says he can fill well. The CU system has grappled with legal issues in the past (...) The board has previously utilized regents with legal backgrounds to navigate and address those issues. Nguyen acknowledges that legal expertise is not a prerequisite to serve in office, but he believes it is an incredibly useful asset."
  • Regent Candidate Johnnie Nguyen wants to focus on a diverse campus
    • "During his time at CU, Nguyen also led, lobbied and protested for CU to block the Kennedy nomination." *"Nguyen says that he wants to focus his campaign platform on access to education, diversifying campus and being an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community."
    • “My big platform is all about access to education,” he said. “I’m going to work towards advancing that pipeline from k-12 to college.”
    • "Nguyen said that one of the reasons he wants to become the next CU Regent is because of his “big position of privilege.” He recently became a lawyer and believes that because he has his life figured out, he can help students who currently feel lost."
  • https://twitter.com/JohnNguyDenver
  • CU DENVER STUDENT AND POLITICAL ACTIVIST
  • Johnnie Nguyen ('21) Elected to American Bar Association's Board of Governors

Wanda L. James

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#Forum

Kip - 1:26:27 - 1:27:15

  • (...) Alright, *cough* next, next race is of[?] CU Board of Regents. What's the... what's the big deal with CU Boards of Regents, well... there's a guy named Eastman who was a- a- a... professor visiting professor at CU. What the heck was he thinking? Uhm, what the heck was CU thinking? Uhm, I want to introduce... the candidates we have for CU Regents. Do we have Wanda here *audience member waves their hand* in person? *audience member claps and says something* Wanda! *audience member "woos"* Stand up, *Wanda starts getting up* turn around, and give a quick- very quick introduction of yourself. (...)

Wanda L. James - 1:27:22 - 1:29:57

  • Hello, everybody. Thank you all for coming out tonight. This was an engaging conversation for CD1. My name is Wanda James and I'm running for CU Regent. Just real quick, Wanda4CU.com. They'd give me two minutes, so I can't get through everything. Experience matters,... I graduated from CU... 36 years ago... today. *audience applause and "woo"* *laughs* Thank you. I was also the first Black woman commissioned at the University of Colorado though CU's Naval ROTC Program. *audience claps and someone some something inaudible* I wen- thank you. I went on to become a naval officer, a corporate executive, and my husband and I have been small business owners now for over 25 years. My politics and my background in the Democratic Party go deep. I have worked for Barack Obama's National Finance Committee, I've worked for Kamala Harris on his- on her Finance Committee, and I was the campaign manager for Congressman Jared Polis, who you all know now as Governor Jared Polis. So, I have done a lot here in Colorado... the University of Colorado has been meaningful to me, I have sat on the alumni boards, I have been a part of the, uhm, structure and speaking at the University of Colorado to Poli Sci [aka: Political Science] students, to the Law School; and, for those of you that don't know or don't recognize, my husband and I are also the first African-Americans legally licensed to sell cannabis in America. *audience applause and a happy "ohh"* What that means is- thank you. What that means is not that it is about cannabis, but it's about ending the drug war. What we have done here in Denver CO,... uh~, 5 years ago, er, 6 years ago... 34% of the arrests in Denver CO were Black... for possession. Have you guys seen 34% of Black Americans anywhere in Denver? *2 audience members say "no"* Exactly. So, since we have been able to legalize, what we have done in Denver CO alone is we have reduced the a- arrest rate by 97% for simple possession for everyone. So this is what ending the drug war does. Ends slave labor and, as far as University of Colorado is concerned, it ensures that your children will not lose their federal, uhm~, scholarships, loans, and grants to be able to continue to go on to be college. The drug war affects more people of color than anybody else and this is why I'm fighting to be *audience member slow claps twice* Regent at the University of Colorado. Experience matters, tenacity matters, and knowing what you're doing matters. And that's what I bring to this seat: 30 years of knowing what I'm doing. So, once again, Wanda James... June 28th, uhm~, I would really love to have your vote. The other great thing about graduating today, I also married my husband 19 years ago today. *audience "woo", minor commotion, and applause* So thank you.

Audience Member - 1:30:00 - 1:30:08

  • Where's Dianna at? (i think i heard her right) I thought she was supporting the community. And she left? *audience member scoffs, another reaction, and a laugh* I- my bad, I'm just talkin' out loud. *inaudible*

Kip - 1:30:07 - 1:30:22

  • Okay, uh *audience member laughs*, CU Regent Candidate Johnnie Nguyen *audience member: "Yeah, my bad. My bad."* ...not able to a- a- attend. As surrogate, for for~ candidate Nguyen.

Staff Member? - 1:30:22 - 1:31:00

  • *walks into view with outstretched hand to signal "hold up" and says something inaudible to Kip* I just want to address that, really quickly, we worked really hard to get all of the candidates here. At least videos for the ones that could not be here, and we keep it legit in this house district. Four Five and Eight have worked really hard on this. I don't like that you said that. She does support our community, but this is one stop on an evening full of things that she made time to stop and do and she did need to be on her way to her next meeting, so I think that is both unfair... and disrespectful... of the candidate's time. So thank you for raising your opinion, I'm gonna kabash that and tell you as a leader in this house district *shakes head* we don't talk about eachother that way. So please, that type of comment's not welcome. Okay? *audience member: "Okay." Okay. *audience member: "I hear you"* Thank you. *audience claps*

Kip - 1:31:04 - 1:31:06

  • Surrogate for Johnnie Nguyen. *audience member: "Yeah. Can I have a mic?"*

Johnnie Nguyen's surrogate - 1:31:10 - 1:33:53

  • I'm gonna stand up here next to... Johnnie Nguyen's photo, 'cause obviously I'm not him. Hello, everybody, my name is Depranesha[?] (pronounced: Dee+pruh+ney+sha?). I'm a surrogate for Johnnie Nguyen. Uh, he can't make it today, 'cause he's at his best friend's wedding. Uh, he will be back tomorrow. He dearly misses you, but he sent... probably not the best person to be here, but I'm excited to tell you all about Johnnie. *audience laughs* So Johnnie and I actually met a decade ago on Democratic campaigns, a lot of familiar faces in here probably know for over a decade aswell 'cause he's been volunteering with Democrats for a long time. We eventually ended up going to law school together, and there we worked on diversity initiatives together, we, uh, campaigned against Mark Kennedy together, and we also taught Constitutional law to add risk students together. Uhm, and then Mark Kennedy story, uh, you know, that brings me to, like, one of Johnnie's best qualities. If you don't know, Mark Kennedy was the President, thank God he's no longer, was the President CU, uh~, of the CU system. He was this... kind of radical right-wing candidate, uhm, that the Republicans chose from, uhm, originally Minnesota and in North Dakota. Johnnie and I were... involved with that process from the beginning. Trying to get a student on the board. We found out about his appointment... roughly in our morning AM Law classes, and by the afternoon Johnnie had organized all the students, all the alumni, the staff, the faculty, emailing everybody to get together to oppose his nomination. And that's the kinda... guy Johnnie is. Uhm, also I think it's really apt that we're here today in the Union Hall. Johnnie is the only candidate endorsed by the Working Families Party, and one of his top platforms is to make sure that the workers of C- CU are, uh, unionized and can collectively bargin. So he's a big supporter of union rights. Uhm, I also wanna highlight he would be the only Democratic attorney on the CU Board of Regents. He's a practicing ajourney[?] right now. Practicing attorney right now. Uh, in Denver, he would be the first Vietnamese person elected in Colorado. The first openly gay CU Regent aswell. *looks at phone* Uhm~, what the other highlights the one[?] *audience member claps once* Oh,... that's the red light. *audience member says something inaudible* Well yeah, anyways we will have... *general laughter* Yeah, I guess... two minutes is quick. more laughter Thank you for letting me be the second best Indian speaker today. more laughter and applause But! But,... maybe the one with a[?] better hairline. *audience collectively zings* *playfully points to Neal Walia (off camera)* Neal and I know eachother *inaudible* wedding~. It's all good. bit more laughter Uhm, I will be in the back with CU-, uh, with Johnnie's flyers and stuff if you could... come by the table, help sign up, uh, check out Johnnie's stuff that'd be great. Again Johnnie Nguyen... for CU Regent. *audience applause*

Posted Jun 27, 2022, 12:21 AM UTC · edited

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