Dave Upthegrove: Committed, Candid, Undeterred

By Josie Bode
J-Ideas

Washington state Rep. Dave Upthegrove may have lost this time, but he promises he will be back.  After his student expression bill failed to clear the Washington state legislature this spring, the Democrat from suburban Seattle vows to try again next year.

Ken Bunting, associate publisher of the Seattle Post Intelligencer, has high hopes for Upthegrove and his dogged support of high school and college journalists, saying Upthegrove’s opponents should not underestimate the 36-year-old legislator.

“As a betting man, I’d put my money on Upthegrove,” Bunting said.

This has been the season of Dave Upthegrove in student journalism.  Upthegrove’s efforts in Washington sparked a new wave of interest in state legislation that would protect high school journalists who have had limited rights since the landmark Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier decision in 1988.  His name was on the lips of student journalism leaders nationwide as his bill passed the Washington House before failing in the Senate.  Newspapers in Washington wrote stories about his efforts.  He was interviewed on television and radio all around the state.

Within weeks of the introduction of HB 1307 in January, Oregon Rep. Larry Galizio introduced a similar bill in that neighboring state.  Oregon HB 3279 cleared its first legislative hurdle in early May and is considered a pretty good bet to become law, according to many who are tracking the bill.

In Michigan, state Sen. Michael Switalski also reintroduced student press legislation -- SB 52 is currently in the Senate’s Committee on Education.

And the trail crisscrosses the country.  Parties in Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina and Vermont are pondering similar legislative moves.

“Upthegrove’s influence goes well beyond the borders of Washington state,” said Angela Thomas, assistant director of J-Ideas.  “It has revived interest in creating new laws to support and protect free expression and First Amendment rights of students nationwide.”

In fact, HB 1307 became a focal point for journalism educators across the country. Upthegrove’s efforts also attracted the attention of prominent members of the national media, from editors at prominent Washington state newspapers, to USA Today, to the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) and on to the Poynter Institute. 

When his highly publicized legislative effort failed, some student journalism advocates feared the momentum was lost. Fern Valentine, a prominent member of the Washington Journalism Education Association, disagrees.

“Nothing but good can come from attempting to get this legislation passed throughout the country,” Valentine said.  “Although we failed this year, our students learned first hand how government works by supporting something they cared about.  That is a life-long lesson not available for most.”

And Upthegrove, although “disappointed and frustrated” by the bill’s demise in the Senate after a 58-37 House passage, vowed to continue to support student journalists, saying in his blog only hours after the bill’s failure that he plans to reintroduce a new bill in January 2008, when Washington legislators reconvene in Olympia.

“Our effort has resulted in legislation being introduced in Oregon and Michigan. We have brought attention to the flaws in the current law that allow principals to abuse their authority and get away with it,” Upthegrove said.

Who Is Dave Upthegrove?

Upthegrove is considered by Bunting as an up-and-comer, but remains relatively unknown outside of his district.  “Who is Dave Upthegrove?” many ask.

Upthegrove does his best to answer that question himself.

When his MySpace profile appears, the haunting lyrics of Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power” erupt from the page.  The face of a cherubic young man in a smart gray business suit appears on the screen where he tells you his favorite bands include the Beastie Boys, Rage Against The Machine and Wu Tang-Clan.

Upthegrove’s online profile is not that of a typical 30-something keeping in contact with old friends.  This profile describes a man who is passionate about American politics.  From his open support of Barack Obama, the Illinois U.S. senator and presidential candidate, to his detailed blogging about his Washington legislative agenda, Upthegrove hopes to usher in a new generation of voters through the power of MySpace -- and a little bit of honesty.

“I always try to help people understand that there’s nothing secret or magical about the legislative process – we’re all just people,” he said.

Jeff Upthegrove believes his brother’s use of technology helps reach out to younger voters, but says his online persona is no political ploy.

“None of that is contrived politically or even thought through,” Jeff said.  “It’s just who David is.  He comes from the next generation and is young at heart.”

Upthegrove is an avid blogger who will tell web-savvy constituents everything from the size of his laundry pile to the details of a hostile meeting with unhappy lobbyists.  His profile tells voters that he drinks but never smokes, plays basketball against the Republicans at the state house, and is homosexual. 

“I think that his unscripted candor is likely the most important trait David brings to politics,” Jeff said.  “It is precisely why he connects so well to younger voters -- It is precisely why he has achieved legislative success.  He is that rare breed -- a politician who is simply himself.” 

Though today Upthegrove is in his third legislative term, his first dreams were not of politics. He wanted to work outdoors with kids.  Though he was involved in student government while attending the University of Colorado, his first job was at a summer camp. Upthegrove actually stumbled into his political career.

“I don’t think I planned on going into politics as a career – I think ever,” Upthegrove said.  “I was still looking for jobs in outdoor education when I got hired as the legislative aide for the chairman of the Natural Resource Committee … one thing led to another – I started thinking about running.”

In 2002, he was working as a volunteer for state Rep. Pat Lantz.  Five years later, she was working alongside her protégé as a co-sponsor of HB 1307.

It was Upthegrove’s interest in youth issues that led him to partner with Brian Schraum, a journalist at Washington state’s Green River Community College who inspired the student press bill.  Schraum, a student media advocate for both high schools and colleges,  and Upthegrove discussed a first-of its kind state bill that would protect both college and high school students from administrative censorship.

Upthegrove embraced student journalism, calling it an “application of civics” in the school environment.

 “I was really impressed with the fact he was so receptive and interested – especially because I am young and not even from his district,” said Schraum, now a student at Washington State University.  The phone call led to a meeting, a partnership and HB 1307, one of only seven bills Upthegrove introduced in 2007.

Focusing on fewer bills

“I try to find a small number of issues I care about, work on them diligently, and focus on them,” Upthegrove said.  “One senator introduced 99 bills this session – that’s crazy.”

Focus was necessary for HB 1307.  From its introduction the bill had a rocky road and the process proved draining for Upthegrove and his supporters.  It managed to get through a contentious vote in the House, where Republican opponents called the legislation “silly” and “unnecessary.”

When HB 1307 moved to the Senate, a public debate broke out into a shouting match between committee members and students, and Upthegrove remarked that he was shocked by the level of attacks the legislation drew from principal-administrators lobbyists.  Eventually, the debate spilled out of the state house onto the editorial pages of Washington newspapers.

“Dave has taken some hard beatings in the public and press over student press freedom,” Jeff said.  “It isn’t easy operating in a system built on cronyism and cynicism, but David seems to have struck an appropriate balance.”

Eventually, after being stripped down amendment after amendment, HB 1307 was weakend in the Senate Judiciary Committee, eventually dying before a Senate vote.  But despite this first-round failure, Upthegrove remains dedicated to protecting the First Amendment rights of students, vowing to try again.

“I tend to think of this as the beginning,” Upthegrove said.  “We brought a lot of people together in Washington; I’d almost like to call it a movement around the issues of student press freedom.  I’m not going to let that momentum die.”