Simpson Democrats hosted their second 2020 presidential candidate on campus on Feb. 4 in McNeill Hall.

Marianne Williamson, a writer and activist, first gained an audience by becoming a New York Times bestselling author. According to her website, she founded Project Angel Food, a nonprofit organization which provides free meals to people with life-threatening illnesses.

Geoffrey Van Deusen, president of the Simpson Democrats, said she wanted speak to the group about her campaign and policy ideas.

“We had a surprisingly large showing, and we fielded interesting questions,” Van Deusen said.

Williamson had an unapologetic style of speaking and said some of her competitors have called her ideas radical. However, she explained that such a speaking style was needed in order to combat the current problems facing the country.

She talked about the problems within the current political system, her main talking points being child abuse, systemic racism and inequality. Some of her solutions would include giving $100 billion as reparations to African-Americans for slavery and the injustices they have faced throughout history and leading up to the present.

Williamson spent a large portion of her speech talking about how the system currently doesn’t prioritize minority rights.

She also encouraged women to take a stand, saying, “American women aren’t porcelain dolls.”

Specifically, she talked about the lack of representation that women have in Congress and other parts of the working force.

When an audience member asked how she would reform the healthcare system, she offered the solution of giving Medicare to everyone who is a U.S. citizen.

After her speech, some students were still skeptical that Williamson could fix the problems that she outlined.

“I think that her drive and passion really resonates with a lot of audiences, but I don’t see her talking about actual policy plan in her speech and that concerns me,” said sophomore Hannah Parks.

Williamson plans to caucus in Iowa this time next year.