State of the Union - College Edition. Presented by Baldwin & Co.

As America approaches one of the most critical elections in its history, Baldwin & Co. is proud to host the "State of the Union" event, where students from the leading colleges of New Orleans will come together to discuss the pressing issues of 2024 & beyond.

It's a unique opportunity for student voices to be heard and to influence the national conversation. In 2020, the turnout among college students surged, demonstrating their growing influence in shaping the political landscape. According to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, the voting rate among college students increased to 66% in 2020, a 14% jump from 2016, showcasing their potential to sway the outcome.

Immediately following the college student's panel discussion. Renowned journalist and author Jarvis DeBerry will take the stage with Bakari Sellers. Bakari Sellers is a popular CNN commentator, host of a hit eponymous podcast and NYT bestselling author Bakari Sellers.

Bakari Sellers served on President Barack Obama's South Carolina steering committee during the 2008 election. That coupled with his uncommon ability to reach across the aisle and get things done has led to numerous accolades including being named to TIME Magazine’s “40 Under 40” in 2010 as well as 2014’s “The Root 100” list of the nation’s most influential African-Americans. Sellers has been a much sought after public speaker and has provided political and social commentary and analysis on many major national news outlets.

Bakari Sellers made history in 2006 when, at just 22 years old, he defeated a 26-year incumbent State Representative to become the youngest member of the South Carolina state legislature and the youngest African American elected official in the nation. His political career did not stop there. In 2014, Sellers won the Democratic nomination for Lt. Governor in South Carolina, and has also worked for United States Congressman James Clyburn and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. He is widely considered to be a rising star within the Democratic Party and leading voice for his generation.

Jarvis DeBerry worked for The Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans from 1997 to 2019, first as a reporter and finally as an editorial writer and columnist for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Jarvis was part of the team of journalists that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

In 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2019 DeBerry was awarded first prize for column writing in the annual contest sponsored by the Louisiana/Mississippi Associated Press Managing Editors Association. In 2016 and 2019 he won the National Association of Black Journalists’ Salute to Excellence Award in commentary. In 2019, he was awarded the prize for best column by the New Orleans Press Club.

A member of the NOMMO Literary Society in New Orleans, he has had poems published in "Step Into a World: A Global Anthology of the New Black Literature," "Bum Rush The Page: A Def Poetry Jam"and "The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South."

He was a part of the original cohort of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Culture of Health Leaders and is working with two executives from the Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies to raise awareness of the prevalence of trauma in the adolescent population in New Orleans.

Host or Publisher Baldwin & Co.