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Hoping to find common ground in a divided political landscape, Holla Back is sponsoring a discussion called “How to Bridge that Gap Between Republicans and Democrats: Working Together as a Nation” 6-8 p.m. Tuesday in Keefe Commons. Free pizza will be provided.
Organizer Jillian Gaeta ’07 (Middletown, N.J.) says the event is not in response to the outcome of the recent presidential election. Rather, she hopes the discussion will teach people to work together constructively and not label each other based on political affiliation.
“The goal of our program is to open discourse and try to redefine some of the core values that we as Americans share,” says Gaeta, a double major in international affairs and French.
“We decided to have this event because we felt that during this election there was a great divide in our nation. People either felt very strongly about a candidate, had a deep hatred for a candidate, or didn’t care at all about who won. I personally feel this is not healthy for our nation.”
The program format is open forum with a few students asking questions of the audience to spark discussion. There will be no lecturer in order to allow more interaction from the audience.
Gaeta adds, “We hope that students can take away from this a new perspective or at the very least be more open to discourse about how to work together in politics.”
Representatives of both the College Democrats and College Republicans were invited to add to the discussion.
Gaeta is also involved with mock trial, Academic Progress Committee, Student Government, Students for Social Justice, and the Newmann Association. She is a campus tour guide and is conducting EXCEL Scholars research with Neil Englehart, assistant professor of government and law, on how well people in countries with signed treaties, such as those guaranteeing citizens political rights and civil liberties, are protected from human rights violations