On Wednesday night, members of both student groups participated in a debate in Morton Hall hosted by The New Political and The Economics Society of Ohio University.
With the Ohio primaries less than a week away, the timing for a debate between the Ohio University College Democrats and the Ohio University College Republicans couldn't have been better.
On Wednesday night, members of both student groups participated in a debate in Morton Hall hosted by The New Political and The Economics Society of Ohio University.
The debate was broken up into three parts, with the debate's moderators handling the questions in the first two rounds and the audience asking the questions in the third. Audience members asked questions through both notecards and Twitter using the hashtag #OUDebates.
Olivia Miltner, a junior studying journalism and the editor-in-chief of The New Political, and Sam Kissinger, a senior studying economics and president of The Economics Society, served as co-moderators of the debate. Kissinger said the idea to have a debate came to him over break.
“It’s funny because over break, it just came to me. It just popped into my head,” he said. “With the election coming up in the fall, and with both groups dedicated to doing stuff like this, it seemed like something we should do.”
Hot button issues were debated throughout the event, including immigration, Planned Parenthood and healthcare reform. In some instances, members of both groups took a bipartisan stance on certain issues.
Anna Lippincott, a senior studying journalism and political science and president of the OU College Republicans, had a different view on climate change than the Republican Party.
“I know many of you think we’re going to come out and say that climate change doesn’t exist,” said Lippincott. “We acknowledge that climate change is a threat, we just don’t think it’s the number one priority right now.”
In addition, during the section of the debate focussed on the legalization of marijuana, Hailey Butterfield, the treasurer of OU College Democrats, took a more conservative stance on the issue.
“I don't think it should be legalized,” she said. “It should be decriminalized and up to the states to decide.”
Discussion of the activist movement Black Lives Matter caused disagreement from both sides. David Parkhill, a sophomore studying business management and the political director of the OU College Republicans, criticized the movement.
“The system has tried to divide us,” he said. “We need to stand up together and face this. It shouldn’t be Black lives Matter, it should be American Lives Matter.”
Parkhill’s comments resulted in both audience members and debaters vocalizing their disagreement, such as Jake Fenzl, president of the OU College Democrats.
"Why are they saying black lives matter? Why do they feel their lives don't matter as much as everyone else's?" Fenzel said. "Both sides of this issue should be coming together and making out their differences."
Some students in attendance had opinions to share after the debate. Trevor Rowe, a freshman studying information and telecommunication systems, and also a member of the OU College Democrats, said both sides had some missteps in their rhetoric.
“It wasn’t entirely what I expected,” he said. “Both sides had some very strong points, but there were parts in the debate where it was obvious that it was a student debate.”
Nathan Brown, a sophomore studying business management and entrepreneurship and a member of the OU College Republicans, was disappointed gun control wasn’t discussed at all.
“Gun control wasn’t brought up,” he said. “We prepared for gun control, and there was nothing about it. It’s an important issue in this upcoming election.”
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Despite conflict over hot button issues, at the end of the day, both the Democrats and the Republicans were pleased with the outcome. Fenzl and Lippincott both said the debate went well.
“I think the last time this happened was during the Senate Bill 5 fight (in 2011),” Lippincott said. “I think it went extremely well. ... I don’t think it could’ve been handled better.”
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