No voice was left unheard about President Barack Obama’s administration’s tenure on Tuesday night at the Knight Law Center auditorium.
Conversation was heated as professors from the University and Willamette University discussed the nation’s divided political climate and the future of the Obama administration in a forum entitled “Obama and the Politics of Polarization.”
The event was part of the Wayne Morse Center Public Affairs Speaker Series, which features panels covering various current events. The roundtable was led by University political science professor Daniel Tichenor, who also serves as a moderator for the speaker series. Other featured panelists included University law professor Ibrahim Gassama, Willamette University politics professor Richard Ellis, University assistant ethnic studies and political science professor Daniel HoSang and Carol Stabile, University director of the Center for the Study of Women in Society and English and journalism professor.
Panelists exchanged ideas and observations on a wide array of issues ranging from Obama’s re-election plan to the protests happening in Egypt. Topics also included sexism and bigotry in political rhetoric, globalization, business regulation, poverty, conservatism and liberalism in the U.S. and the failures, accomplishments and impact of the Obama administration.
Students were also given the opportunity to ask questions and voice their own thoughts on the subject.
Tichenor, who organized the panel, said he wanted to host an event that allowed for diverse exchange about an interesting topic and that halfway through President Obama’s term was “the perfect time to kind of take stock of the expectations we had going into 2008.”
Tichenor said he was happy to have the speakers because they made the debate so interesting.
“I knew that this group of folks would have a lively exchange, differences of opinion and that it would be fun for the audience to be a part of that,” Tichenor said.
Anna Friedhoff, a first-year law student and Wayne Morse Fellow, said she was satisfied with the discussion provided by the forum.
“I think (the panel) touched on what everybody’s kind of seeing right now: Is that what happened to the guy we voted for?” Friedhoff said.
Tichenor said he thought the roundtable was successful and plans on hosting more in the future.
“I always feel like the definition of a good panel is when you think you’re just getting started when it comes to the end,” Tichenor said. “Everyone still wanted to talk — both the panel and the audience still had lots of questions — so that’s kind of a sign that it was a vibrant conversation.”
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