Alumni Spotlight: Aaron Stephens
February 21, 2025
The Department of Political Science (PLS) within Michigan State University has thousands of alumni working across Michigan, the United States, and in the world within the public, private, and non-profit sectors to promote change. We are proud to spotlight the path that they have taken from MSU to their current positions.
Aaron Stephens earned a Political Science degree in 2018. But even as a student, he was already making headlines when he ran for and won a seat on the East Lansing City Council in 2017.
During a surprising double resignation of the city’s mayor and mayor pro tem in 2020, Stephens suddenly found himself, at 24 years old, the youngest mayor in East Lansing history, and at the time, the youngest mayor in America. During his tenure, he had to negotiate a global pandemic and calls for police reform.
After leading the city through the first year of the pandemic, two months before the end of his term, he stepped down from the office to pursue a Master in Public Policy degree at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. With his graduate degree in hand, Stephens has now returned to East Lansing. He recently caught PLS up on his career, life, and future plans.
Q: Why did you decide to move on to graduate school? And how did PLS prepare you it?
The real answer is my mother was angry at me for not having a plan after I decided not to run for re-election, so I did what any rational person would, and applied to Harvard. The tricky part was that I somehow got in, and then needed to figure out how to act like I belonged when I went. Luckily, the political science department taught me enough about probability and statistics, and being a policymaker taught me a bit about making policy.
On a more serious note, I’ve often said that the political science degree allows students to learn while also giving them freedom to chart their own course at MSU. In that way, graduate school and the PLS degree are similar, and I felt very comfortable taking on the challenge because of it.
Q: What has your career path looked like since you finished your Master’s degree?
I’ve been working on national policy, focused on antitrust and progressive economic policy, along with a few passion projects, such as leading the coalition of outside groups that fights to end insider trading in Congress. I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to the Rose Garden, give congressional briefings, and have hundreds of meetings with member offices because of my work. My work life is going to shift a lot with the new Congress and administration, but I am hopeful that I will still be able to make an impact, even if it's not on the national stage.
Q: Looking back to your time at MSU, what were some of the most defining moments of your time as a Political Science undergraduate?
I, along with a good friend, Brieann, ran the Students for Sanders group in 2015 and 2016. We were able to get ASMSU to commit $60,000 to bring a presidential candidate to campus and then convinced the Bernie Sanders national campaign that if he did a tour of Michigan, the state was winnable. We got him to come to the state, which included a stop in East Lansing, where I gave a speech introducing him at age 19 in front of over 13,000 people. My Republican father was extremely conflicted whether to be proud of the situation or not, but it turned out pretty well either way!
Even more importantly, it turns out, was that my wife was in the front row of that rally, and we met shortly after.
Q: What advice would you give students considering a career in public service, especially in today’s political climate?
I’ll give two pieces of advice.
For public service specifically: Things happen slowly, plan accordingly. Unless public perception on an issue shifts extremely rapidly on an issue, generally it will take years for major change to be accomplished. It’s okay to be there for part of the campaign, it’s also okay to be there for all of it, just don’t be discouraged when it takes time.
For your general career: Go out and do the thing. Send the cold email, apply for the job that you think is a bit out of reach, run for office as a 20-year-old who everyone said wouldn’t win (that one may be personal). Generally, the people that make a lasting impact are the ones who are unafraid to go out on a limb, or the ones that just do it anyway.
Q: Your decision to run for office while still in school was somewhat unique. Looking back, would you advise other students to do the same?
I advise dozens of young candidates across the country through my work with Run for Something and Leaders We Deserve, many around the age I was when I ran. More young people need to be involved in the direction this country, or their communities are going.
However, I need to add a caveat. Running for office is not a casual decision. I hate the phrase “throw my hat in”. It affects your mental health, family, and you instantly become a public figure subject to scrutiny from people you’ve never met. More importantly, when you run for office, you are claiming to everyone in that city, district, or area that you are the best person for the job, and that people should put their faith in you. I will never advise someone who does it halfway. You are responsible for the people who voted for you, the one’s who didn’t and the safety and future of your community. Treat that responsibility with respect.
When I became mayor, which in East Lansing is considered a “part-time job”, I was facing a political reckoning on policing and managing a global pandemic in a city with one of the largest college populations in the country. I quit my day job, and worked 14 hour days.
I even, in secret, took a night shift stocking shelves at a south Lansing Meijer so I could pay rent and still focus all of my attention during the day on my role as mayor.
Student or not, when you run, do it because you believe you really can make an impact, and do it all the way.
Q: What lessons did you learn in your time as a council member and then mayor?
Too many to count. I think I got worse at interviewing as time went on, definitely much less polished. But I did learn that honesty is a blessing, and you should never trust someone who is not able to say the phrase “I don’t know”.
You may have ran for office to work on housing regulation, but rest assured you are going to deal with every issue from historic district boundaries to deer culling. In my limited experience, the people who walked in and acted like they had all the answers were usually the ones making questionable or outright selfish decisions. I learned over time that being the person who is willing to ask questions, even if they seem foolish, will lead to better policymaking in the long term.
Q: What do you think are the next steps in your career? And what is your dream job?
I’m hoping I get the chance to serve in office again, although I don’t have any plans to at the moment. At the Kennedy School, I got the chance to help teach a class on running for office, and it was one of the best experiences I had there. I come from a family of teachers, my father was a professor at Oakland University, my grandfather was a math teacher in the Detroit public school system. My dream job is the one where I feel like I can make the most positive impact, and right now, I feel like teaching is that place.