This past week Madison lost one of its finest citizens. On Saturday, Milt McPike, the longtime principal of East High School, passed away after a bout with cancer at the age of 68. Mr. McPike, who up until only a few months ago served on the UW System’s Board of Regents, was a lifelong advocate of education — not only talking a good game, but also actively living and doing what he preached every day.

Mr. McPike’s passing necessitates a time of reflection for students at this university. We have all had role models and influences during the course of our young lives. Be they our parents, teachers, brothers and sisters or sometimes even the occasional athlete or politician, there are many people who have inspired us, appealed to our better selves and driven us to achieve beyond what we believed we could.

I count among my most significant role models my parents, both of whom have dedicated their professional lives to public education. My mom works as a fourth grade teacher at Thoreau Elementary, a school that exemplifies the challenges and possibilities facing Madison schools in the coming years. On one hand, increasing poverty leaves many students with less support at home, making it more difficult for them to keep up with their more affluent peers. But my mom and teachers like her still rightly maintain that their work is full of possibility. What better tool do we as a society possess to combat poverty at its roots than public education? In our public schools, every child has a chance to succeed, but it’s up to us, the new leaders of America, to ensure that promise is not only preserved, but strengthened as well.

My dad has seen the same challenges from the side of a district administrator. He has dealt with the absurdities of the No Child Left Behind Act. Students who came to the U.S. only weeks ago, speaking little if any English, are forced to take the same reading proficiency tests as their native-born peers. There is no leeway granted by the law, and as a result, schools with higher immigrant populations are doomed to be branded “failing schools.” With that label comes the loss of federal funding and further cuts to programs needed to help struggling students become successful. Accountability in education is needed, but when a policy fails its objectives as miserably as No Child Left Behind has, accountability is needed for policymakers.

Mr. McPike dedicated his life to educating future generations, and the outpouring of thanks in the local newspapers and comment boards has been truly astounding. While I’m sure Mr. McPike would appreciate the kind words, I sincerely doubt it was his motivation in choosing a career path. Mr. McPike dedicated his life to a job he found worthwhile and fulfilling, though it may have never led him to great capital wealth.

I mentioned this should be a time of reflection for students. That may seem like a curious suggestion, given that we see ourselves not at the sunset of our time in the world but at the morning, but I believe that view makes current reflection all the more important. We often talk about politics and voting as a way to change the world for the better — and that’s certainly true — but the legacy our generation will leave runs much deeper than who we campaign for and who we vote for.

In short, our politics is about who we are. Many people on campus consider themselves political liberals or progressives, but what are we going to do in our lives every day that promotes our vision for a better world? How are we going to use the degrees we earn from the University of Wisconsin to enrich not just ourselves but our communities? Quite simply, how will we give back?

Thomas Jefferson once said, “It is in our lives, and not in our words, that our religion must be read.” The same sentiment could easily be applied to politics. Our political beliefs should be manifested in our careers, our extracurricular activities and our families — not just our votes. That was certainly the case for Milt McPike.

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Oliver Kiefer ([email protected]) is the chair of the College Democrats.