College Democrats and Republicans will join forces for an upcoming mock presidential debate in the William F. Walsh Amphitheatre.
According to Anneliese Quinlan, a junior political science major, the event, scheduled for Thursday, April 14 at 7 p.m., will consist of club members mimicking the political standpoints of current presidential candidates.
Quinlan said College Republicans members will be representing entrepreneur Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz and Governor John Kasich. She added that a College Democrats member will represent Senator Bernie Sanders, although the club is still looking for someone to portray former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Quinlan, the president of College Republicans, offered insight on the way the debate will be run.
“Each student will answer the questions based on their candidate’s past remarks and published platforms on each issue,” she said. “The five topics are immigration, foreign policy, taxes, race and crime and healthcare. There will be three questions per topic and three minutes to answer each question, with one minute for rebuttal.”
According to Christopher Stanley, Ph.D., the College Democrats advisor, the debate’s visuals, content and formatting will be accurate to the presidential debates, with a panel of moderators who will be responsible for asking the mock candidates questions.
Stanley added that he first posed the idea of a mock debate to College Democrats and, afterwards, reached out to College Republicans.
Stanley said he hopes the event will inform students on the candidates’ standpoints before the New York primaries, which takes place on April 19. If it goes well, he added, the debate could potentially become a recurring on-campus event.
“I’m hoping that students who are not currently paying attention to the presidential race or are unfamiliar with the views of the candidates will come to the event and learn more about the candidates’ views on particular topics,” he said. “And, so, they will be motivated to vote on Tuesday and to base their vote on informed judgements about the candidates, rather than superficial impressions and media coverage.”
While Stanley said he’s seen significant political interest among millennials, both he and Quinlan acknowledged that there’s a contingent of students disinterested in politics.
Stanley said there are two possible reasons for students’ disinterest.
“I think that they’ve been brought up in a very cynical age,” he said. “[It’s] an age where they hear a lot of negative things about individual political candidates or the political gridlock in Washington and the influence of money in the political process. Therefore, they feel like they can’t make any difference…[Also,] there are a lot of students who just don’t take the time to learn.”
Both Quinlan and Stanley agreed that, contrary to popular belief, students’ votes count greatly in both local and national elections and they should take the time to educate themselves and take part in local and national elections.
“Many seem to be under the impression that their one vote doesn’t count or change anything,” said Quinlan. “There are 44 million eligible millennial voters in the United States. That’s a huge demographic that could sway an election easily.”
Jenna Maxwell, a sophomore political science major, agreed and said millennials play a major role in the continued success of the United States.
“Whether we like it or not, one day the burden will be shifted to our generation, and we will be the people responsible for keeping this nation together,” said Maxwell, the president of College Democrats. “Having a basic understanding of politics is truly the first step in maintaining our future.”
Maxwell added that, aside from informing students, this event will make a bold statement on what Bonaventure stands for.
“Events like this bring truthful information about politics to our Bonaventure community,” she said. “They also prove that the Bonaventure campus is a community that cares about the future and our nation as a whole. It’s not a random club event on a Wednesday night; it’s an event which will serve to inform our fellow Bonnies and people in our surrounding community. Hopefully this event can bring many of us to a realization that, even though we’re away at college, our voices still matter.”
Stanley said students planning to vote can watch the university Notice Board, as transportation to the primary polls may be provided. Primary voting will take place on April 12.
Stanley added that, while the deadline for local voting has passed, it’s not too late to request an absentee ballot. The absentee ballot must be mailed out by April 12 and the form can be found at http://www.elections.ny.gov/VotingAbsentee.html.
The debate will be filmed by SBU TV and live tweeted by campus media outlets for the information of those unable to attend.
mcgurllt14@bonaventure.edu
