By Mónica Velázquez
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. hosted an open discussion on Thursday about the front-runners in the upcoming presidential election while touching on other important topics within our nation’s politics.
After months of confusion and griping over the rising popularity of presidential candidate Donald Trump, voters have lost sight of the values of other candidates within this year’s presidential race.
In an event on campus entitled “Know Your Vote”, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. met with other students on campus in Baker Hall for an informational session on the thoughts of presidential candidates that included Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and John Kasich. It seemed quite casual at first, as the girls of Delta Sigma Theta were giggling about their daily gripes on the Hilltop and each other’s personal lives.
But as the seriousness of the topic of discussion seemed to take hold, the focus became more apparent to pay attention to the information being presented to us. Instead of going straight to the slides of information, the night started with a surprise trivia game on the powers of the Supreme Court, the President himself (or herself), and the U.S. Congress.
With a blank piece of poster board and a couple of colorful markers, most of us struggled to remember if we retained anything we learned from our social studies or politics courses we have taken throughout our academic careers. Turns out that most of us didn’t remember too much. That only made the point of knowing more about our government before we vote that much more pertinent. An informed decision is better than an ignorant one, provoking a spiral of silence for our nation’s votes.
After recovering from our lack of political science knowledge, it was time to hear about the presidential frontrunners in the upcoming election. A slide on Hillary Clinton revealed some points about her thoughts on the current college loan debt in the country. Though she states that she will “enable Americans with existing student loan debt to refinance at current rates”, many in the audience questioned what “current rates” meant, seeing as currently we’re already in a hole as it is.
The next slide up was Bernie Sanders, whose popularity among college students has rocked the nation and made him the current front-runner for the democratic bid. Making public colleges and universities tuition-free might be nice for some, but I guess the tuition prices for private universities have a way to go before there can be a substantial change in our debt crisis.
Donald Trump garnered some eye rolls from the crowd, especially on his flawed immigration policy. As the hothead who speaks “what everyone’s thinking”, Trump has gained much popularity for speaking what’s on his mind. But deporting children and their families doesn’t sit well when we know that we are all immigrants.
Lastly, John Kasich (who I had honestly never even heard of) brought to light a fresh perspective on the topic of our criminal justice system. Less prison time for nonviolent offenders sat well with many in the crowd, but his ideas for war on ISIS didn’t seem to be too substantiated. But it’s better to hear all opinions. And in the end, it’ll be up to our generation to “know our vote” and pick the candidate that’s right to fix our country’s problems.