In a nation where politics divide citizens with hate and anger the St. Lawrence University Republican Club and Democrat Club came together to show the students that there is no room for hostility on campus. Both clubs came together for the first time in many years to have a discussional event this week.
The Republican Club was able to coordinate a political event with the Democrats Club to discuss controversial topics within today’s politics. The event itself was not a formal debate but rather a round table discussion which allows every participant to speak freely. Each topic was discussed for a 20 minutes until the conversations died down and a new topic was introduced.
Both executive boards were representing their clubs at the event. “It was nice to get people with diverse opinions together in a place where we could all share ideas,” said vice president of the Republican Club, Ian Fogerty. “It was great to see representatives from both clubs come together for the event, it really shows that it’s not just the executive board that make all the calls for the clubs, members are supportive of the merge too.”
During the event, groups that contained executive board members were the best behaved. The executive board of both clubs were respectful of each other and often invited people to speak. Groups that did not contain executive board members were more rowdy but still remained respectful by letting everyone voice their opinion. “We don’t have to yell at each other because even though we have different opinions on certain matters, we share the same morals and values,” said Fogerty.
St. Lawrence University has recently been in turmoil since the beginning of the school year after people, including faculty and alumni, have been outraged at the university’s audacity to remain hidden during the Kavanaugh hearing and the proposal to revoke Senator Susan Collins honorary degree. Students of St. Lawrence feel as though their voices are not being heard and their questions are being left answered. This event gave students the opportunity to speak their minds about current issues not only in the United States but also at SLU.
“This is important for St. Lawrence since we are the next generation to make these changes,” said co-president of the Republicans club, Placido Ramallo. It is important for students at St. Lawrence to be able to talk about their opinions freely without judgement. Without the feeling that their voices will get swept under the rug every time they find the courage to stand up for what the believe in. We are the children of the future, the citizens of America who will be able to make these differences one day. Pub and Politics ensures that students do not feel like they cannot speak. All voices are heard at this event because all voices deserve to be heard.
Now that the event is over, the next step is to continue with the discussions until everyone is comfortable with a formal debate. Attendance seemed to be somewhat an issue from the public at the event but overall there was a good amount of people in attendance. Next time, the executive board stated that they would advertise better so that more students that are not associated with either club can come see the two clubs connect.
The debate is to be scheduled later with the intent of broadcasting it all over the school. Many students and faculty have displayed their interest in the debate. Both clubs seemed to have ended the Pub and Politics event in a relaxed fashion. Both clubs admitted that the event eliminated any concern for the opposing club to become hostile. This event showed St. Lawrence University that the world outside of campus may seem divided, but the students of SLU are all family.