Gavin Griffin runs for Titusville City Council

Gavin+Griffin+runs+for+Titusville+City+Council

Samantha Weber, Editor in Chief

Mercyhurst freshman Gavin Griffin is running for City Council in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Griffin is a political science major and is passionate about local politics and public service. At just 18 years old, Griffin would be the youngest council officer in the history of his native Crawford County.
This is an impressive challenge for anyone to take on, let alone a college student.
Griffin joined the Junior Councilman Program when it was first established in 2022 and he did everything including attending meetings to research and the decision-making process even though he was unpaid and did not technically have a vote.
With this experience along with his current internship with Senator Bob Casey, Griffin has had plenty of political experience at such a young age.
Griffin’s political agenda is helping the poor by having more collaborative local social services, increasing the availability of Narcan to save lives, ensuring first responders have adequate staffing and equipment and advocating for more CPR training and the installation of AEDs in the community.
In order to run, one has to have 100 signatures, Griffin went door-to-door to obtain these signatures and he stopped after receiving 150. He continues to go door-to-door to get to know his potential constituents and what they want to see in their city.
Griffin included an essay piece outlining why it is important for young people and college students to seek out change in their own communities through public service. He wanted to include it in this article:
“The youth of our country today have been born and raised in what is perhaps the most turbulent time of any such generation in recorded human history.
Born in the 21st century, most have never known America in a time of peace. They have witnessed the death and destruction caused by international terrorist attacks. They have lived through the ill-fated forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now see our government’s failure to serve the veterans we sent to fight them.
They have seen a financial crisis, caused by deregulation and the risky greed of banks deemed “too big to fail.” They have experienced an economic recession, watching prices go up and American jobs disappear.
They have been the test group for a brand new worldwide social experiment called the internet, and the effects have led to increased suicide rates and decreased feelings of true connection with others.
They have watched as their fellow students across the country are murdered in their classrooms, and have continuously been told to offer ‘thoughts and prayers’ for the victims and their families.
They have seen a rise in hate, an erosion of justice, and the breaking of our social fabric, one piece at a time.
In spite of all this, however, the youth of the United States continue to hold on to hope. They continue to work in the pursuit of good, even when their more cynical elders tell them not to bother. They foster relationships with those who think differently from themselves, even when those in Washington are incapable of doing so.
In short, America’s young people have faced a world dominated by hate, unyielding to change, and still they persist in attempting to be a force for good.
As the youth of this country begin to come of age, it seems ever more evident that the only true agents for positive change in their lifetime must be the youth themselves.
We, as a nation, need a new generation of leaders to fix our country from the bottom up, and expand a new and uniquely American vision of hope, justice, and prosperity that is so desperately needed today.”