Straight from the beltway to Bowling Green, political analyst Juan Williams was to give a standing room only audience his views of the 2004 election last evening.

Williams, during the speech, said his goal goes beyond expressing his political vantage point.

“As I come before you tonight, it’s not to really speak to you from any one political perspective,” Williams said. “It’s not to give you some lesson or lecture about American politics from Washington. That is a horror show.”

Williams’ numerous endeavors focus on creating change through politics.

“Juan Williams has been doing something. He has been standing up and speaking out,” said Kathy Bradshaw, assistant professor of journalism, as she introduced Mr. Williams.

As an NPR correspondent and Fox News analyst, Juan Williams offered young people an alternative to Washington politics.

“Your voice really needs to be heard,” Williams charged. “It’s not about people who are talking heads on television, like me, shouting back and forth at each other, wagging their fingers, trying to make smart points. It’s really about people who understand that America is in the midst of tremendous political change.”

He told the audience that census numbers show that one fourth of the population is under 18, and yet politicians don’t speak to the youth.

“Too often what happens in mass media in this country is you’re given a sleeping pill. The sleeping Pill that says to you ‘you can’t make a difference. Just sit at home and watch people scream at each other on TV.'”

He drew the comparison between popular TV shows, like “Friends”, “Seinfeld” and “The O.C..”

“They are our most popular shows…about a small group of people who are focused almost obsessively on their own needs, on their own little dramas…they have no sense of that there are broader issues in the world,” Williams said.

Williams spoke directly to students about rising above ordinary expectations.

“Defy people who want to give you that sleeping pill. Spit it out and understand that you have a role to play in American society today,” he urged.

As a historian and author of an acclaimed biography on Thurgood Marshall, Williams made an example of how Marshall rose from a student to a role of political influence.

“What you see here is a rising political consciousness in a young mind,” Williams said. “The understanding that he has the power to create social change, to make a difference if only he will use his power.”

Juan Williams’ extensive combination of accomplishments and experience brought him to Bowling Green as the 2004 Currier Visiting Lecturer.

“He’s an insider, but he’s not,” said Victoria Ekstrand, assistant professor of journalism. “He’s got a very good handle on the rest of the country.”

The Currier Speaker Committee, made up mostly of journalism faculty, started planning this lecture last spring. The Florence and Jesse Currier Endowment makes this lecture series possible.

“There is no way our operating budget could afford this kind of speaker,” said Linda Glomski, administrative assistant in the school of communication studies.

The committee felt that Willliams experience made him the right choice for this year.

“We knew it was election year. We were looking for a journalist who could talk about the election,” said Nancy Brendlinger, associate professor of journalism.

She also cited “the fact that he had a television presence as well as a radio presence” as a way to bring in students.

It apparently was a successful tactic. Students appeared in such large numbers that some had to watch Williams’ speech from the sidelines.