Texas Senator and gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis said she is committed to “making college more affordable and accessible to all.” | Julie Nguyen/The Cougar

Gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis wants to make college more accessible.

Davis, a single mother who got through college on financial aid after becoming pregnant at 19 said she relates to UH students.

“I tell my story not because it’s a unique one,” Davis told the crowd, “but because it isn’t.”

Senator Davis spoke to a crowd of over 400 supporters, including students from UH, Rice University, Texas Southern University, Texas State and more in the Conrad Hilton ballroom to kick off her statewide campus tour, on Sept. 2. She’ll be visiting Prarie View Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University, University of Texas at San Antonio and University of North Texas. Davis is campaigning to become the next governor of Texas, a position that has been unchanged for 14 years.

“I am going to fight for you and every single student in this state because I know what it’s like to think that your future is gone, to face challenge after challenge, setback after setback,” Davis said.

“Mine is a story of stops and more importantly than that, it’s a story of starts. And as governor, I will make sure that the story of Texas’s future continues to be a story of starts for every single student in the state.”

Davis was elevated to ‘celebrity’ status (literally) overnight after her eleven-hour filibuster against restrictive abortion regulations—completed in hot pink sneakers, no less. In addition to her fight for women’s rights, Davis is a strong proponent of education.

During her speech, Davis spoke about prioritizing higher education and making it accessible and affordable for students, raising the minimum wage from $7.25/hr to $10.10/hr, providing women access to safe reproductive health care, expanding Medicaid coverage and allowing equal pay for women in the workplace.

She was met with applause after every point made; as she walked off the stage after her final statement, the crowd chanted, “Wendy, Wendy, Wendy.”

“I think she’s true to the party but she’s also very true to herself. I’ve never seen print interviews where she’s said ‘I’m full of Democratic values.’ She says ‘I’m full of my values.’” -Megan Edyvean, Davis campaign volunteer

Stage management senior Megan Edyvean is a volunteer with Davis’s campaign and believes that Davis is a strong candidate that is genuinely interested in improving the state of Texas.

“I think she’s true to the party but she’s also very true to herself,” Edyvean said. “I’ve never seen print interviews where she’s said ‘I’m full of Democratic values.’ She says ‘I’m full of my values.’”

Religious studies senior Jessie Smith also believes in Davis’s values and found her speech inspiring and moving.

“I’ve been following her since the filibuster and I was like ‘Wow, who is this woman?’” Smith said. “That’s our next governor.”

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“Wendy Davis kicks off statewide campus tour at UH” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar