Draft:Salvatore Cottone (activist)

• Comment: Although some of the sources used in this draft are indeed reliable sources ([1][2][3][4]), few mention Salvatore Cottone. At this point, Salvatore Cottone does not have enough coverage in the media to meet Wikipedia's notability standards. If Salvatore Cottone is discussed in future news stories, I would reconsider. Let me know if you have any questions. Crunchydillpickle🥒 (talk) 23:02, 26 November 2023 (UTC)

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Salvatore Cottone (born December 5, 2002) is an Italian-American student activist, the Speaker pro tempore of American University's Undergraduate Senate, and a political strategist for the Sunrise Movement's AU chapter focusing specifically on campus politics at his college. He identifies as gay, disabled, and is known for his activism for low-income students in higher education. As an advocate for universal higher education in the United States, he protested outside the White House for months with WeThe45Million to demand President Biden signs an executive order to cancel student debt and increase the pell-grant. After the Supreme Court struck down Biden's order, he testified before the United States Department of Education demanding the White House pursuit the route of Negotiated Rule making to create a new path to debt cancellation and to make higher education more accessible for students of low-income in the United States. In 2021-22 he helped organize a sit-in for the Build Back Better Act outside Capitol Hill which had members of the "Squad" and Congressional Black Caucus come out in support. He currently is spearheading the effort in his student government to have American University become reliant on 100% renewable energy and implement an AU Green New Deal.

Early life

Salvatore attended Southern Regional High School.

Activism

Build Back Better Sit-in

In late 2021, Cottone helped organize a sit-in with the Sunrise Movement at AU to advocate for the Build Back Better Act, specifically the portions pertaining to a just transition and investment in clean energy. It was his first experience interacting with Congress and he met members of the "Squad" to discuss the importance of youth action during periods of infighting within Congress. The sit-in lasted a month through midterms and even during nights of cold rain. During this period, Salvatore also supported the Sunrise Movement's hunger strike for climate action outside the White House. He appeared on The Leslie Marshall Show to talk about the sit-in.

Cancel Student Debt

In late 2021 and early 2022, Cottone organized with We The 45 Million to advocate for the forgiveness of student debt in the United States. Photos of him with Bernie Sanders and members of the "Squad" demanding the Biden administration to cancel student debt appeared nationally on CNN, MSNBC, The Nation, and the Washington Post. The activism pressured President Biden, and expedited the decision by the President to forgive $10,000 in student loans for most borrowers and up to $20,000 for pell grant recipients. After SCOTUS struck down Biden's decision after several lawsuits, Cottone and others such as the first Generation Z member of Congress Maxwell Frost testified before the Department of Education to demand negotiated rule-making in creating a new path towards debt forgiveness.

Student Government

Cottone currently serves as the Speaker pro tempore of American University Student Government. He served as the student representative on the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee in the University which introduced and created changes to the AU curriculum and he added several new sustainability courses to the core curriculum for Undergraduates. He passed the most resolutions, and launched the Committee on Combatting Sexual Violence and Harassment, which created and passed the AU Survivor Bill of Rights. He also introduced a referendum which was passed by student body that would grant voting power to the student member of the Board of Trustees. He was a candidate for Student Body Vice President and ran on the platform of a Green New Deal for American University, noting that the highest amount of campus culture he's seen was during the freshman walkout to support labor unions on campus.