More than ninety students, faculty, staff, and community members participated in the DebateWatch between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on September 10, 2024. Sponsored by the Center for Speaking & Listening, Sewanee Debate Union, and Office of Civic Engagement’s Yea, Sewanee Votes! and Dialogue Across Difference Programs as part of the university’s Election 2024 programming, the DebateWatch offered a campus forum for hearing the two presidential candidates make their cases to the American people.
Discussion facilitator Dr. Sean O’Rourke, Chair of Rhetoric and American Studies and Co-Director of the Center for Speaking & Listening, explained the rules of engagement before the debate began. The rules are simple: turn off phones, avoid news commentary, listen carefully, and judge the debate performances on their own merits. After the debate, Center for Speaking & Listening peer tutors and Dialogue Ambassadors led tables through discussion. Questions posed to the audience focused on how well the candidates answered questions asked, how well candidates articulated a vision of America, how candidates displayed character (competence, integrity, goodwill), how well candidates showed their leadership capacities, and whether candidates’ performances impacted public opinion of them.
Dr. Amy Patterson, Professor of Politics and Director of the Office of Civic Engagement, said about the event, “The debate watchers were really engaged in listening carefully to both candidates’ arguments and responding to the post-debate questions with substantive points. The dialogue after the debate was really informative and insightful: a great example of the power of exchanging ideas for democratic participation.”
For more information about the Sewanee Votes! Fall 2024 Event Series, check out their Instagram page: @sewaneevotes
For more information about the Office of Civic Engagement and Dialogue Across Difference Programs, please email Dr. Lydia Reinig at llreinig@sewanee.edu.
