Student organizations hosted "Platicas Poderosas", a youth voter panel, at the University of Houston with Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of "Hamilton" and "In the Heights", as a moderator.
During the event, the speakers and Miranda asked students to participate in the upcoming midterm elections.
"There are a lot of things that are scary about this election. There's the overturn of Roe v. Wade, gun control is on the ballot, your bodies are on the ballot, immigration is on the ballot," Miranda said.
Miranda has previously worked toward Puerto Rico relief efforts after Hurricane Fiona, and voter engagement, support, and education efforts. He encouraged students to work on special projects and philanthropy, much like he and Sara Elisa Miller have.
"Sara is my college roommate," Miranda said. "That's real. The friends you make here and the alliances you make here will serve you into the rest of your life. You find people who share your goals, don't let go."
Lauren Morton is a founding member of Deeds Not Words, a civic engagement group with a chapter at University of Houston; she was also a panelist at "Platicas Poderosas". She said the executive director of Deeds Not Words, Andrea Reyes, came to her with the opportunity.
"Andrea reached out to me and she was like, ‘Hey, Lin Manuel Miranda's team is going to be in Houston'," Morton said.
Morton said that having prominent figures like Miranda at their events is not a regular occurrence. However in the past, Deeds Not Words has organized events where they protested sexual assault on campus and in their current campaign they are fighting wealth inequality in Houston.
"This was just a great one-off thing where we could bring someone with a larger platform to highlight us as student leaders," Morton said.
