Politics can be a tense topic to debate, but the Ohio University College Republicans (OUCR) and Ohio University College Democrats (OUCD) have found a way to make it more relaxed—through pizza.
With the help of the LGBT Center at Ohio University, the groups have started “Politics and Pizza.” The event was started to help facilitate discussion between the groups.
The idea for the event was created following a walkout that occurred after President Trump was inaugurated in January 2016. delfin bautista, Director of the LGBT Center, who uses they/them pronouns, decided to take some cookies to those who had walked out, and saw that there were people across the street with Trump flags. They went across the street to give the protestors some cookies as well and had a short conversation.
bautista wanted to have an event that was focused on face-to-face conversations, but not debates. They reached out to the previous presidents of OUCR and OUCD and said that both groups were excited about the opportunity.
One of the goals of the event was to ensure that people felt welcomed and included in the conversations. At the first event in fall 2017, Jenny Hall-Jones, the dean of students, David Edwards, the director of Veterans and Military Student Services, and Robin Muhammed, chair and associate professor of African studies, were all table facilitators.
“Politics is such a polarizing topic, it’s nice to be able to sit down and talk about these hot button topics … with people your own age and in a safe environment,” Kailee Missler, OUCD Communications Director and a sophomore studying strategic communication, said.
There have been attempts to try to include other political and social groups on campus. The International Socialist Organization and several feminist groups were contacted about joining, bautista said.
The event is structured so that the number of democrats and republicans are even on each side. There are moderators at each table that facilitate the conversation and make sure that everything remains formal. The moderators are mostly professors who have shown lack of bias in the classroom.
“You get to see why people think the way they do,” Melissa Pedulla, the president of OUCR, said. “We end up agreeing on a lot more than we disagree on.”
While there can be tense moments, Pedulla has never seen anyone angry. There are certain topics, such as abortion, which can be hard for people to talk about, Pedulla said.
In an attempt to keep pressure low, there are a number of fun questions that are asked periodically. One question that was asked in one of the past meetings was “is a hotdog a sandwich,” Pedulla said.
There were several changes made from the first to the second event. Both events lasted two hours, but originally there were about 12 questions asked. That number had been reduced for the second meeting. Instead of having faculty and staff members facilitate the discussion, the focus switched to students, according to bautista.
The event started a year ago and OUCD and OUCR would like to continue having it every semester. There was not one scheduled for this semester, but there have been recent discussions about having an event next semester.
The LGBT Center is hesitant about hosting another event because bautista was told that some students felt like they were not being treated fairly. One student told bautista that one of the facilitators was told to be a representative for all of the LGBT community and people of color.
The event was intended to focus on people’s personal beliefs, and only speaking for their experiences. OUCR and OUCD members were told that they were not speaking on behalf of their respective organizations, but for themselves.
