President Obama Comments on Athlete Activism and More During ESPN Student Forum

President Barack Obama sat down for a conversation with ESPN on Tuesday at North Carolina A&T State University, and one of the central themes of the discussion revolved around athletes and their roles as social activists. 

During the student forum hosted by ESPN's The Undefeated, Obama was asked what college and professional athletes can do to make a stand for social change. 

In response, Obama noted that there is no one true way to go about spurring change. To illustrate that, he pointed to two influential social activists who helped facilitate progress in different ways, according to the Washington Post's Kelyn Soong: 

"How you do it is less important than your commitment to using your platform to speak out," Obama added, per ABC 57's Brandon Pope. 

"Get engaged," he said, according to North Carolina A&T on Twitter. "Get involved. Get educated about issues that are affecting your lives and figure out the best way to make a difference."

Obama outlined ways that young athletes can start to influence the conversation more broadly. 

"Figure out the best way for you to get involved, whether it be protesting or mentoring," he said, according to Dr. Michael Lomax of the United Negro College Fund. "That is revolutionary."

The Undefeated relayed footage of Obama's complete response:  

Obama also discussed the similarities between sports and politics. 

Speaking to host Stan Verrett, Obama said sports and politics share a common trait in that, "When you lose, you lose publicly," according to Newsday's Mandy Hofmockel. 

In that same segment, Obama discussed overcoming defeat—whether it's in an athletic or political arena. 

"One of the benefits of defeat is to take some of the vanity out of what it is you're trying to achieve," he said, according to Soong.  

Later, the commander in chief provided a poignant answer when discussing how people should invest their time.  

"On my deathbed, I won't remember any bills I passed, any speech I gave, winning the Nobel Prize," he said, according to Vice Sports' Ty Schalter. "I'll remember holding hands with my children and taking them down to the park."