Eric Fang

Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris addresses the crowd in the United Center on the final night of the Democratic National Convention.

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago concluded on Thursday with Vice President Kamala Harris accepting the party’s nomination. Two UChicago students were among the delegates who had cast their votes for her in a virtual nomination process earlier in August. 

Cameron Landin ’25, a political science major at UChicago, watched the closing speech in the United Center as an at-large delegate from Georgia. Landin is currently the Savannah Regional Organizer for the Democratic Party of Georgia, the Communications Chair for the Chatham County Democratic Party, and the Deputy Director of Programs for the College Democrats of America.

“It definitely is the experience of a lifetime, I can say that much, as one of the youngest delegates from Georgia,” Landin said in an interview with the Maroon after the convention.

“Is it a big rah, rah party? Yeah, to some extent,” Landin said. “But one of the reasons it is [a party] is because we’re celebrating democratic policies. We’re celebrating what we believe in, what we hope to achieve.”

Landin was part of a group of ‘ceasefire delegates,’ a group of delegates asking Harris to commit to a U.S. arms embargo on Israel and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Landin said he saw Harris as the best choice for the Democratic nominee but wanted to see more action from her on Palestine. He also said he was “livid” that the DNC denied a speaking slot for a Palestinian-American. The denial led to a sit-in of a group of ceasefire delegates outside the United center from Wednesday until Thursday night.

Harris said in her speech on Thursday that she would “always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself”, and that she and President Joe Biden were “working to end this war, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination.”

“Although I pledged for her and I support Harris, I think that we can do more to get an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and I think that the current weapon shipments to Israel—almost all of them we could consider irrational,” Landin said.

Dariel Cruz Rodriguez ’26, who studies public policy and data science at the College, was another UChicago student serving as a delegate at the DNC. Cruz Rodriguez, a delegate from Florida, is the president of UChicago Transit Enthusiasts and a member of UChicago Democrats and the College Democrats of Illinois.

“I wanted to be a delegate because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent where I live, in the same city where I go to school,” Cruz Rodriguez said. “There were a lot of issues I could talk on, especially infrastructure issues pertaining to young people and students. And… the population of the delegates is aging and not very representative of what the American people look like. So I wanted to run to change that.”

Cruz Rodriguez said he took a chance on applying to be a delegate.

“I think I was working on a P-set for one of my math classes when I was submitting my petition. And I was just so done with my P-set. I was like, ‘YOLO, we’ll see what happens.’ And now I’m at the DNC,” Cruz Rodriguez said. “Don’t be afraid to figure out how to try new things, because most things in life are just a YOLO away.”

Similar to Landin, Cruz Rodriguez said he hoped to see Harris and her campaign take further steps towards a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.

“For me personally, the biggest issue right now is calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and stop[ping] the Palestinian suffering in Gaza,” Cruz Rodriguez said. He added that he was also disappointed that the DNC had not lifted Palestinian voices.

Cruz Rodriguez said he quickly supported Harris when President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race because he believed the Democratic party needed to unite to oppose Republican presidential nominee and former president Donald Trump.

Cruz Rodriguez said attending the convention had energized him to continue contributing to the Democratic party in terms of organizing and supporting candidates.

“I’m planning on continuing more organizing work with UChicago Democrats and College Democrats of Illinois. I’m hoping to get more involved [with] my home districts’ Democrats to support more local candidates,” Cruz Rodriguez said. “This convention has done nothing but reaffirm my excitement about the Democratic Party moving forward.”

UChicago student Simone Nelson ’26, who is majoring in Law, Letters, and Society and political science at the College, attended the DNC as a guest in the United Center. She spoke to the Maroon in an interview on Thursday.

“It was truly the most amazing thing getting to see the Obamas speak. These are once in a lifetime opportunities, and I’m just so grateful to the IOP,” Nelson said. “Being able to be around people who are really excited about voting and democracy in the election has been really energizing and a really cool experience.”

Nelson was a survey designer and researcher for the GenForward survey project, which investigated young people’s political attitudes and is led by UChicago professor Cathy Cohen. Cohen spoke at the IOP’s Youth Votefest on Wednesday about the project.

“There’s always so much talk about youth voting and, ‘What do young people think?’ I think a lot of times people get it wrong,” Nelson said. “So it’s nice to be able to have data that [shows that] actually, people are engaged… Young people are not this apathetic group that a lot of older people like to believe they are.”

In addition to the event in Chicago around the DNC, the IOP held another Youth Votefest in July in Milwaukee while the Republican National Convention occurred, which Nelson also attended.

“Having it near both conventions—I think that was really eye opening and is a good reminder to speak to people who disagree with you,” Nelson said. “Everyone, regardless of political affiliation, at these events had something in common, which was caring about voting and American democracy in some way and wanting to get involved with these issues.”

Eric Fang and Katherine Weaver contributed reporting.