Former Virginia Speaker of the House Visits Government Classes and Discusses Civil Duties

The Helms School of Government welcomed Kirk Cox, former speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, to campus to speak to students about his experience in politics and public service on Thursday, Oct. 22. 

Cox has served in the Virginia House of Delegates since 1990 and shows interest in running for Virginia Governor in 2021. He visited three different Helms School of Government classes, including a visit to Liberty’s gun range during a pistol safety and shooting course. According to Cox, he hoped to inspire Liberty students to get into the field of government and public policy.

“I was a middle class, 30 -year-old schoolteacher who did it and you can do it too,” Cox said. “I didn’t come from some affluent rich family. If you set your mind to it, you can be pretty successful in the government realm.”

The first group that Cox visited was a combined group of students from Adjunct Professor Aaron Van Allen’s state and local government class and Dr. Gai Ferdon’s political economy and public policy class. According to Van Allen, Cox spoke on his history in politics, including characteristics of campaigns he was on, how he got involved in politics and what the daily tasks were like as the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. 

Van Allen received positive reactions from his students about Cox’s presentation, including how impactful Cox’s message was that anyone can get involved in politics no matter their background. 

“They really appreciated him making the time to be there,” Van Allen said. “Obviously, somebody that has achieved the level success that Speaker Cox has over the course of his career, his time is obviously in high demand.”

Cox also spoke to a master’s level graduate class taught by a School of Government Professor, Dr. Kahlib Fischer. Before Cox’s presentation, the School of Government Dean Robert Hurt gave a brief introduction of Cox, highlighting his significance as a guest speaker.

“We are really honored to have with us a fellow who has really spent decades in politics, more importantly, decades of his life, in public service and legislative service,” Hurt said. 

Students listened intently as Cox shared about his start in public service. Cox commented on the reality of politics and public service.

“If you want to serve, you have to figure out how to be elected first,” Cox said. 

Cox spoke about his most recent campaign for the 2019 election and that people care about two things: how a candidate will solve the issues that affect them and whether the candidate actually cares about them. 

“People have to think that you care about them,” Cox said, “You can talk issues all you want, but if you never meet them, never talk to them, never recognize them, I think it’s very tough politically.”

Cox went on to mention his community outreach efforts during his campaign, what he has done to fix issues, and presented the ads and testimonial videos he used during his campaign. He also talked about the challenges he faced while campaigning and what his ideas were to get in touch with new voters for the 2019 election. Finally, after sharing his many campaign efforts with the class, he brought it full circle by presenting the end result of the election: his win for the Virginia House of Delegates’ 66th District in 2019. 

Cox concluded his presentation by mentioning his interest in running for Virginia Governor in 2021 and took questions. Students were interested in what his thoughts are on current issues such as how the government is handling the COVID-19 situation. Andy Langeland, a second-year master of public policy student, enjoyed hearing from Cox because of his inside perspective on public policy. 

“I really appreciate having someone who is an active politician. I mean, he’s literally out knocking on doors for his next re-election,” Langeland said. “I don’t know how you could get much closer to things without being involved yourself.”

Cox regarded Liberty students as very bright and committed. Through his talks, he wanted to give them that push to get involved in public service. 

“So many of the students here are very thoughtful,” Cox said. “I think they would make great state legislators, they’d make great members of Congress, they’d make great chiefs of staff, they’d be great on a judiciary.”

According to Fischer, having a policy maker who was and is in the trenches of public policy come speak to his students was very important. To Fischer, the main takeaway from Cox’s talks is the complexity of the public policy process.

“It’s about people as much as it is about process and data,” Fischer said. “It’s about caring for people, and we try to emphasize statesmanship and servant leadership in the school of government for that reason, because that’s part of how you uphold justice and integrity in government.”

Mia Nelson is a News Reporter.