For many students, there was only one thing to do on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 5.
As John Bunting ’26 said, “if Bill Nye shows up at your tiny little college, what are you gonna do — not go?”
A crowd of 355 eager Macalester students packed into Weyerhaeuser Chapel that morning to welcome and listen to a speech delivered by science educator Bill Nye. Rather than give the scientific presentations he’s known for, Nye had a different message: get out and vote.
“When we fight, we win; when we vote, we win; and, together, we can change the world,” Nye told the crowd.
Nye began his career in an educational context with a 19-Emmy- Award-winning T.V. show, “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” Over time, he shifted his message towards climate activism. Nowadays, he says that the best thing you can do for the climate is vote.
Nye had an event in Minneapolis that evening and was looking to begin the day with politically engaged Minnesota college students. Macalester was the The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer- Labor party’s (DFL) top pick, so they reached out to Macalester Democrats, an on-campus org.
As President Suzanne Rivera waited to greet Nye, she expressed her pride at the fact that Macalester was chosen to host the event.
“[I am] excited that Mac is seen as a place engaged in this democratic process,” she said.
As college president, Rivera cannot officially endorse any candidate, but she always tries to be there to greet visiting dignitaries — in this with six honorary PhDs and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The event was first conceptualized at a small scale: the DFL proposed a 25-student coffee meeting with Nye. While the DFL wasn’t initially confident they would hit this count, MacDems President and key liaison for the event Kyra Layman ’25 had greater faith in the Macalester community. She pushed for a larger scale.
A formal RSVP link was sent out at 10:30 p.m. on the evening of Oct. 2.
By 11:09 p.m., the form had 100 signatures. At 11:30 p.m. it hit 150. By 3 a.m., the event link was full with 250 sign-ups. In order to increase occupancy, the event moved locations from John B. Davis Lecture Hall to Weyerhaeuser Chapel. Within an hour, the event had once again reached maximum capacity.
For many of those waiting in the packed lines outside of the chapel, this was unsurprisin. Nye means a lot to them.
“I’ve loved Bill Nye since I was a boy,” Owen Killoran ’27 said.
As soon as Nye stepped out, a contagious chant of “Bill! Bill! Bill!” erupted from the audience.
Though some of his idioms leaned older — “happy women and girls, happy life,” he said to some students’ confusion — the crowd remained delighted with him.
“I think he is more in tune with our generation than many people of that age group, but still, there were some little things that were kind of funny,” Layman said.
To many students, Nye’s message and presence hit home.
“I cried three times,” Rinnie Jardini ’27 said. “Bill Nye is a big, big character in my life. When I was little, I didn’t go to a good school and so my mom and I would sit in our living room and watch Bill Nye videos to get science. And this was just such a full circle moment. I need to call my mom.”
