Starting on Sept. 30, Tech hosted its annual Wreck The Vote event on campus. Done in collaboration between the Student Government Association (SGA) and the Nu Mu chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Wreck The Vote encapsulated a five-day event to inform, educate and encourage students in political action on campus.
The event included a myriad of events such as a policy playbook workshop, the vice presidential debate screening, the Registered Student Organizations (RSO) political debate, capitol currents discussion and multiple voter registration tablings.
“The main goals were to inform people about what they’re voting for, who they are voting for… and how they are voting. And then towards the end, we talked about your rights as a voter and how you can best use government services after you vote,” said Sultan Ziyad, third-year CE and SGA Rep.
The highlight of this event was the return of Tech’s annual RSO Political Debate, which was last held in 2021.
Held at Cypress Theater in the Student Center, the debate brought together four student-run political organizations: Young Socialist Democrats of America (YSDA), College Democrats, Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) and College Republicans, to discuss the different policies and views from their respective parties.
Moderated by GT Debate Team and co-hosted by SGA and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the two-hour-long debate followed an open forum format to encourage equal speaking times from each party.
“We started with two-minute opening statements from the four political RSOs. Then, we delved into five questions, giving each team two minutes to offer its perspective. We then opened the floor for a seven-minute open questioning period: Each team could clarify its position on the issue or question the other teams. Each team could speak for one minute if it chose to ask or answer a question. We concluded the night with two-minute closing statements from the teams.” stated Sai Machiraju, co-moderator and GT Debate spokesperson.
During the debate, the discourse centered on the current state and the future of higher education, the economy, immigration, the public sector and healthcare.
While the debate was organized to ensure equal representation with two left-leaning organizations and two right-leaning organizations, political discussions were often contentious.
Regarding immigration, economic and healthcare policies, speakers addressed the pressing issues while representing their political party’s views. This often led to focused rebuttal periods and clashing opinions.
Not until the debate’s final topic, centered on public transit and infrastructure, did the organizations find common ground, with many agreeing on the importance of sustainable solutions
The RSO Political Debate serves as just one example of the growing political climate on Tech’s campus. While often seen as a polarizing topic to students and faculty, the debate allowed for civilized and cordial political discussion.
“I think that the questions were chosen in a way that gave every team a lot of chances to specifically address policy. It was kind of like how the vice presidential debate reflected a lot more civil discussion than the actual main stage presidential debates did this year,” said Andrew Herndon, third-year CE and College Republicans speaker.
During the debate, all the participating RSOs showcased their values on a scaled platform. Audience members learned how critical issues are being addressed and how their communities are being impacted in an enriching setting.
“I would say it’s more just information as a way to persuade because I think we’re basically presenting our stance or our view of how government and policies should be shaped, and then we hope through that presentation that people would agree with us,” said Justin Bowen, third-year PSYCH and YDSA co-chair.
Looking forward, the RSO Political Debate and Wreck The Vote week highlighted the increasing need for political discourse on campus. As the national election looms, students have been increasingly encouraged to get involved with politics around them.
Due to the debate’s recent success on campus, the event has once again cemented its place as a recurring feature. In the future, organizers plan to represent state and local politics as well.
“In the future, when this undeniably happens again, because we believe it was such a success, we’re definitely open to as many political organizations getting involved as possible,” stated Jeremy Leurart, third-year IE and SGA VP of External Affairs. “We called it the political RSO debate, so any political RSO is welcome to partake in it.”