By Lizzie Ramirez
Childhood favorite Bill Nye, “The Science Guy,” visited the University of Nevada, Reno, on Thursday to encourage students to vote in the 2024 election. He was stumping for the Harris-Walz campaign.
Many students were ecstatic to see Nye, with the crowd growing in front of the Knowledge Center on campus before his appearance. Students were seen smiling, some chanting “Bill! Bill! Bill!” in reference to his theme song, when he famously taught middle schoolers about science.
Years later, Nye is still teaching students about science — but this time about how voting can impact the environment.
“There’s one big [issue], and it’s climate change,” Nye told This Is Reno. “And so you can say, ‘Well, we’re here in Nevada, everything’s fine. Hurricane Milton didn’t affect me.’ It does. First of all, it’s only a symptom. It’s only one storm. There’ll be droughts, there’ll be extreme weather here in Nevada.”
Hurricane Milton was a Category 5 storm that was set to hit central Florida. Though the hurricane only hit one state, Nye said, “We’re all in this together.”
When people lose their houses, their possessions, loved ones, the nation comes together to support those affected. “We are all going to pay tax dollars,” he added. “We’re all going to volunteer. We’re all going to contribute to nonprofits that support disaster relief. We’re paying for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, so … we’re all in this together.”
Since Nye taught a lot of the younger generation, many students naturally trust him and believe what he says since he was part of their childhood. “A lot of our generation grew up with him in all of our science classrooms, so I’m really excited,” said sophomore Katie Rankin. “He also does a lot for climate change, which is pretty sick.”
According to Nye, worsening climate change can also lead to a lack of clean water. Not only will it lead to a lack of natural resources, but in Nevada, species have to move “higher and higher up the hills and mountains because the world’s getting just a little warmer.”
Nye told This Is Reno that when he was younger, he couldn’t vote until he was 21 because the voting age wasn’t set to 18 yet. “Everybody voting is a privilege,” he said. “When I was young, you didn’t have that privilege. And if all you young people voted at the same fraction or percentage that people my age vote, we’d get her done. We’d have progressive policies in place, and especially, we’d be addressing climate change.”
After Nye gave his speech, the crowd mobilized to follow him to the front of the Joe Crowley Student Union, where early voting is taking place. Young people were chanting with Nye, yelling, “When we fight, we win!”
“This is the best experience of my life. I love Bill, and being this close in proximity to Bill, it’s pretty cool. I didn’t think I’d ever meet him, ever in my life,” said freshman Dominic Moreno.
While the crowd was surrounding Nye, one student passing by yelled “Trump 2024,” but none of the students reacted to him. Instead, students were engaged with Nye, listening intently to every word he was saying to encourage them to vote.
“It’s important, because he was part of a lot of our childhoods, and a lot of us are able to vote now,” said junior Genesis Reyes.
Students were wearing shirts that said “Wolf Pack for Harris-Walz.”
“When it comes to climate change, you got to vote for the progressives. You got to vote for Harris, and so please, young people, please register to vote and vote,” Nye said. “There are many, many resources here in Nevada to help you find your polling station, your polling place, and please vote. It is a wonderful thing.”
