Rowell has been on a book tour for over 200 days to promote her memoir, "The Women Who Raised Me," and is campaigning for Clinton at the same time. She said that her support for Clinton is based on her background both with the senator herself and with the primary issues of the Clinton campaign.
"I speak not as a political analyst, but from personal experience," she said.
Rowell first met Clinton, then First Lady, at a regional ball. She said she was impressed with Clinton's steadiness and how the senator, like Rowell herself, was personally involved with the issues for which she advocated.
"Her own mother was abandoned by her parents and raised by her grandparents, so these children's issues are near and dear to her heart," she said. "She is really about the children and has been giving attention to these matters for the last 30 years."
Rowell has experienced the impact of several of the issues Clinton focuses on first hand.
"I remember how difficult it was to find housing," she said. "And growing up in foster care, I was reliant on government medical care."
In addition to improving these two areas, Rowell said Clinton would strive to allow all students to have access to a two or four-year college education.
Most of the students' questions focused on the finer details of Clinton's health care plan, and Rowell expressed her conviction that Clinton's program would help the "invisible people in our nation."
"Without insurance, you don't exist," Rowell said. "It's all about the funding. There is an extraordinary cash flow in this country, but it can't seem to be found for children or medical care."
She related students' concerns about health care to her own experiences as an actress. When on a book tour, Rowell explained, health care is a problem because she is not technically employed.
Connecting the issue of health care to the war in Iraq, Rowell commented that she is particularly concerned about the well-being of returning soldiers in part because so many foster children enter the military.
"They often come back to no family, and no health coverage -- especially for mental care," she said.
Turning to international affairs, Rowell said she hoped Clinton would improve diplomatic relations with other nations.
Rowell said she was tired of being "looked at and almost spat at" when showing an American passport.
"I feel extremely uncomfortable traveling abroad," she said. "I think Clinton will mend our image not only in world politics but in world relations."
In addition to Rowell and other campaign represenatives, many students attending the event who were informed about Clinton's policy positions shared their knowledge with their fellow audience members.
A Maine native, Rowell was raised in foster care. She trained as a dancer for eight years before joining the American Ballet Theater II and the Twyla Tharp Workshop, among various other companies. After dancing, she pursued modeling and then began a career as an actress. She became famous for her role of Drucilla Barber on the soap opera "The Young and the Restless," beginning in 1990, and her role on "Diagnosis: Murder." Rowell will be in New Hampshire for two days with the New Hampshire for Hillary campaign to speak about her support for Clinton, focusing on issues relevant to African Americans, women and children.
