Newt Gingrich arrived at a Northern Virginia Community College auditorium yesterday just after 11 in a blue shirt and yellow tie. The former House speaker had come to talk about why young people ought to get involved in public service.

"Why do you think other people are going to carry you?" Gingrich (R-Ga.) asked the mainly college-age audience. "If you're not active, you're the first person to blame."

At this time a decade ago, Gingrich would have been coming off a night under the spotlight: first sitting over the president's left shoulder during the State of the Union speech, then helping to launch the Republican offensive in the 1996 elections.

Then and now, a political frenzy followed the annual address on Capitol Hill, but here in Annandale, Gingrich found nearly 200 people who for the most part are not committed to an ideology or voting, or do not think much about their government. Some in the audience came because their professors had urged them. Others were just curious, unsure who Gingrich was, but interested in nurturing their understanding of politics and government.

James Hansen, 22, a first-year student, reclined in the first row in his red Bruce Lee T-shirt. "I came here to learn a little," he said. "It's an extra-credit activity in my U.S. government class."

The gathering was organized by Generation Engage, a group started last year by recent college graduates, including Devin and Adrian Talbott, the sons of former deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott, and Justin Rockefeller, son of Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.). The group aims to raise civic awareness among college students and young people not enrolled in college. Members say they want to give young people a chance to have their views about politics and the federal government heard.

Gingrich is not the group's first high-profile guest. On Tuesday night, Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and Kennedy speechwriter Ted Sorenson attended a forum in New York that drew almost 1,000 people. A previous event featured former president Bill Clinton. The Annandale event was connected by video conference to dozens of young people at colleges in Queens, N.Y., and Raleigh, N.C., who could watch, listen and ask questions of Gingrich. "Democracy is a dialogue, not a monologue," Chris Lewis, 26, said, introducing Gingrich. Lewis is a Harvard graduate who directs the group's Virginia efforts. Gingrich's talk, barely 20 minutes, was short on politics and policy; instead he evoked the exhortations of a high school graduation speech. "Dream big," he said. "Work hard."

Then came the questions: The first, from Raleigh, was about the impact of Samuel A. Alito Jr. on the Supreme Court. "His impact will be on one-ninth of the court," Gingrich quipped.

A recent college graduate in New York who said he had $100,000 in student debt questioned Gingrich's support for additional military spending. "You have called for a 25 percent increase in defense funds. My question to you is: Shouldn't our resources be dedicated to something better, like paying for student loans or making the country better?"

Gingrich turned from the screen toward the audience and offered just as pointed a response. "You're saying it's better to spend money on your loan than spending money on defending the country," he said. "That'll be true unless the country gets attacked."

Gingrich said young people could get involved in public service any number of ways, but he did have one specific bit of advice: "If you have politicians you don't like, go beat them. Why aren't you running?"