Pizza and Politics spark debate
At 7 p.m. Nov. 9 in the Bingham conference room, staff members of Hatch Hall hosted “Pizza and Politics” for students in their residence hall’s learning community, comprised of eight journalism and communication Freshman Interest Groups.
Sophomore Bari Bates, peer adviser for Hatch, said the Hatch staff promoted the event to the whole building to raise political awareness, especially in light of the elections. The group also held a watch party on election night.
The politics side of the night consisted of a debate between the Mizzou College Democrats and Republicans, where audience members could ask questions about the different party ideals and roles of their organizations. The main debaters included MU College Democrats Secretary Matt Tharp and Mizzou College Republicans Brett Dinkins and chair-elect Sophie Mashburn.
Associate journalism professor Sandy Davidson served as moderator of the event and declared herself a registered independent to the group before starting.
Both sides and audience members debated a myriad of topics including political campaign donation disclosure, bipartisanship and potential gridlock in Congress, up and coming politicians from either party, health care, education, military involvement, abortion, gay rights and Americans’ overall political leanings, among other topics.