The Midwestern State chapter of College Republicans and the MSU Democrats each participated in a student debate sponsored by The Wichitan and Campus Watch on Wednesday.
While the event was originally scheduled to be in Shawnee Theater, the number of students, faculty, alumni and Wichita Falls residents expected to attend forced a change of venue to Akin Auditorium.
“I was a little nervous once we switched to the larger venue,” Sarah Long, mass communication senior, said. “But after seeing how things went, you couldn’t have asked for a better turnout.”
“Did we pack the house? No. But did we have a great, engaged audience? Yes.”
Long coordinated the event, and was very pleased with the outcome.
“I put my blood, sweat and tears into getting this event together in hopes that it would be a success and a way to give the students a voice and an outlet to get their opinions out,” Long said. “I was very pleased with the outcome, and I think everyone involved did really well.”
College Republicans’ Laura Gilbert and MSU Democrats’ Zach Zoet represented their parties as panelists and argued for their parties’ platforms. KFDX 3 reporter Gwyn Bevel served as the moderator for the debate.
Gilbert and Zoet were both in agreement that this is “the most important election in our lifetime” and that the main objective of this debate was to inform, not necisarrily to influence.
The panelists made their case over a number of pre-submitted topics that covered everything from taxation, Obamacare (and health care in general), job creation, federal and state government, education, gay marriage & rights, immigration and abortion. They not only debated the same issues the candidates have debated over the past month, but also made the issues more relatable to students.
After the pre-submitted round, audience members were allowed to stand up in an open forum and pose more questions for the panelists, or ask for more of an explanation.
These questions consisted of awareness of misinformation, what exactly each party is doing for students and the difference between the rights being infringed on in abortion cases and Obamacare.
“I don’t know if people’s questions were necessarily answered,” Long said. “But this was a good way to gauge how informed students were, the knowledge they had and how they represented that and put it to use.”
The audience generally agreed that the debate was a success.
“I think the issues resonate more for students when it comes from someone in their own age group,” MSU alumnus Anthony Carlson said.
“I noticed that one side wasn’t as prepared as the other,” junior Sociology major Roxann Byrne said. “But I think that both candidates did a good job. I think this was helpful. It showed that [students] at least understand what the candidates’ platforms are, and it can encourage them to do more research on their own. “
One complaint Byrne said was that it didn’t focus enough on student issues and how they relate to the big issues, and that not enough issues were fully explored.
“They probably could have done a little more to directly relate it to the students,” she said. “I think it would have been great if they would have talked more about other options to abortion rather than just if it were right or wrong. As far as poverty, I think a raise in equal pay should have been brought up, too.”
After the success and impact the debate had over the students and other members in attendance, Long hopes that this is something that can be repeated in years to come.
“I hope that this would be something that could move forward and become a legacy here,” Long said. “But in four years, we’ll have a brand new student body. It all depends on how involved they want to get. For now, we’ll do all we can to get this out to the student body in various media forms.”