U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff from California visited Chico State on Tuesday to tour the University Farm and speak with political science students.
Schiff is the first California senator to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in over 30 years. With this, he is looking to promote the agricultural needs of the most productive agricultural state in the country.
Schiff began his visit with a tour of the University Farm. Agriculture students led the tour, providing the Senator with information about the farm’s highlighted programs, such as the U-Pick Peaches event every fall, the farm’s newly installed solar panels, and relations with both the University Dining Services and the Wildcat Food Pantry.
The students also showed Schiff the nearly-completed, new Agricultural Teaching Center and Farm Store set to open in the fall. The new building will provide classroom settings on the farm as well as serve as a store open to the public that will sell farm products including fruits, vegetables and cheese.
The tour was led primarily by students Hailey Knief and Sophia Benitez. Benitez noted how the senator’s visit helped to validate agriculture students’ hard work as well as bring attention to an often overlooked industry.
“When politicians begin to understand the real-world challenges and aspirations of young people in agriculture, they’re better equipped to shape policies that support our future,” said Benitez.
(Megan Gauer)
Additionally, Schiff hosted a Q&A session in an intro to U.S. government class taught by Katy Sylvia, a political science and criminal justice lecturer.
Questions from students ranged from the following issues: the homelessness crisis, students losing hope in our country, how the Democratic Party can be bolder in further elections and how long political polarization will last, among others.
Schiff’s classroom visit began with an introduction by Chico State President Steve Perez followed by an introductory speech by the senator.
He empathized with students worried about the future of the country and world, offering advice and sharing similar sentiments as students asked questions.
“We’ve done a terrible job when it comes to the planet,” Schiff said. “The planet is going to need saving, and we’re going to need you to lead the way.”
Schiff openly criticized the Trump administration to the class, calling the last few months “utterly unprecedented.”
Additionally, he mentioned his support for Medicare for All, a set of bills developed and championed by U.S. Rep. John Conyers and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, which resulted in a round of applause from the student audience.
Shasta Partain, a junior studio arts major and student in Sylvia’s class, shifted the conversation to question the Senator’s worries.
“There is so much fear and worry in the world. I want to know one thing that keeps you up at night, or one thing you worry about?” Partain asked.
“What I’m most concerned with is just how bitterly divided we are as a society,” Schiff replied.
He then touched on the role the media plays in division and how it’s in our country’s best interest to fix this political divide.
Schiff ended his Q&A with encouraging words for students, focusing on the economic state of the country as students graduate.
“We need to be building housing that you can afford so you don’t have to move back in with your folks,” Schiff said. “We need to make sure that your generation, like mine and like my parents’, who were working hard, could enjoy a good quality of life, and could retire with security and dignity. That’s not too much to ask in the richest country on this planet.”
The class Schiff visited is primarily filled with first and second year students, and Sylvia hopes that this experience was meaningful for them.
Schiff’s team reached out to the university’s political science department on Wednesday, April 9 and Sylvia spent the week prior’s class prepping the students to ask relevant questions.
“I hope my students learned that it’s not scary to talk to a politician,” Sylvia said. “We talk about political participation in our class, obviously voting, but talking to an elected official is another great way to advocate for yourself. I hope they realized through this moment that they shouldn’t feel scared to contact politicians.”
Senior Maddie Martins, a political science major, is not enrolled in the course but was invited to attend the session through the department. She left the event with a sense of hope.
“I feel more confident about some Democrats having a plan,” Martins said. “With everything going on, with everything Trump is doing right now, it’s really scary. It seems like some Democrats are actually going to do something, I feel better about it.”
Megan Gauer can be reached at [email protected].
Damon Gallegos // Apr 16, 2025 at 4:48 pm
This piece is amazing Megan, thank you so much for writing it with such detail! I will add that the photos are extremely well-done. A solid 10/10!