A Bay Area student is urging valedictorians across the country to include a minute-long message addressing gun violence following the Santa Fe High School shooting in Texas that left 10 dead Friday.
More than 100 commencement speakers across the nation have already agreed to include a 60-second speech at graduation. A Bellarmine High School student working on the project hopes the school's valedictorian will mention it when seniors graduate Thursday.
"It does use things like 'we are the adults now, we need to take action,'" student Ronan Macrunnels said. "'We will no longer be apathetic, we will work to change the world around us.'"
Ronan is joining forces with other high school leaders for the Donate 60 project. They hope what starts at commencement will end at the ballot box. Bay Area Congresswoman Jackie Speier agrees and says the action is imperative.
"We are the only country on the planet that has so many deaths associated with gun violence and it's not that hard to do better background checks, eliminate bump stocks and ban assault weapons," Speier said.
Students hope high school commencements really will mark the commencement of change.
"There are 17 million of us graduating and we will be eligible to vote," Macrunnels said.
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The Donate 60 speech also includes a reference to climate change and fighting sexual assault.
To help Ronan with his message, check out a Facebook page dedicated to his cause.
