Bryan Quadros reads the Wall Street Journal every morning, watches the news on the BBC and says Richard Nixon is his favorite U.S. president -- but, he says, only because of his foreign policy during his second term.

Still, the 19-year-old economics major at Miami Dade College doesn't settle for being well-informed. He wants his fellow students along for the ride.

Quadros is among the students leading the arrival of GenerationEngage, a nonpartisan group created to combat political apathy in youths, to South Florida.

The group kicked off its new chapter Friday night at Miami Dade College in front of about 150 people with a videochat featuring former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

''Miami represents what America will look like in the coming century,'' Justin Rockefeller, a co-founder of GenerationEngage, said via phone from Colorado, where Powell was appearing. ``We want to provide access to young immigrants who are especially in need of access to the American political process.''

GenerationEngage has thousands of members in chapters such as New York City, Raleigh, N.C., Richmond, Va., and now South Florida. They have received significant financial support from the Knight Foundation, which was among the reasons they chose to come to Miami.

The group hosts videoconferences, featuring speakers such as Bill Clinton, Al Gore and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and a handful of young people at each location are given the chance to ask questions.

Every year, more and more students are volunteering at MDC's Center for Community Involvement, which seeks to combine service and learning, said the center's director, Josh Young. Still, their lack of interest in political life is scary, he said.

The arrival of GenerationEngage, which will be housed permanently within MDC's Wolfson campus, may help change that.

''One experience like that for a student that hasn't been involved in things like that before can be the tipping point,'' Young said.

''It has to start here,'' said Binsen Gonzalez, 19, who is studying interactive communications and graphic design at MDC.

He'd like to get presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to appear at one of the group's events.

''It's that connection that we need so desperately, that will break the ice and engage people,'' Gonzalez said.