WEBVTT
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Language: en

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I know this past week has been incredibly tough.&nbsp;
We've all felt the weight of anger, fear,&nbsp;&nbsp;

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and loss. And I want to take just a moment to&nbsp;
speak directly to you, students throughout Utah.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Right now it may feel like rage is the only&nbsp;
language in our politics, but you have the&nbsp;&nbsp;

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power to choose differently. Every person you&nbsp;
meet is more than a party, more than a label,&nbsp;&nbsp;

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more than a post online. Everyone deserves dignity&nbsp;
and respect. That means talking to people you&nbsp;&nbsp;

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disagree with, listening even when it's hard, and&nbsp;
forgiving even when it feels impossible. Campuses&nbsp;&nbsp;

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like yours must be a place of the free exchange of&nbsp;
ideas. It's critical to our American experiment.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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I want to challenge you to spend less time&nbsp;
online where outrage has become so normal, and&nbsp;&nbsp;

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and more time in the real world. Put down your&nbsp;
phone, read something that lifts your spirit,&nbsp;&nbsp;

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go outside, laugh with your friends, serve your&nbsp;
neighbors. Remember, what happens online is not&nbsp;&nbsp;

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real life. And if you're wondering whether this&nbsp;
can actually make a difference, just look around.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Utahns lead the nation in service, in giving, in&nbsp;
community. When tragedy struck this past week,&nbsp;&nbsp;

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there weren't riots or destruction. There&nbsp;
were vigils, prayers, and people coming&nbsp;&nbsp;

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together. That's the Utah way. Your generation&nbsp;
can carry that forward. You can build a culture&nbsp;&nbsp;

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where we embrace differences without letting hate&nbsp;
divide us, where hope is stronger than cynicism,&nbsp;&nbsp;

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and where forgiveness breaks the cycle of&nbsp;
violence. My friends and Utahns, this is our&nbsp;&nbsp;

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moment. The question is, do we escalate or do&nbsp;
we walk down the better path? My prayer is that&nbsp;&nbsp;

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you will choose humanity, connection, and love.&nbsp;
And I believe with all my heart that you will.