Every four years the U.S. gets the chance to have a presidential election year. This year I have had a larger role in discussing the election on campus because I am a Young Republicans head. The Young Democrats and Young Republicans have worked together throughout the past month to hold debate watch parties, informational meetings, and debates of our own.
In particular, this past week we held a formal town hall sit-down debate. This event was aimed at promoting respectful political discourse between the Young Republicans and Young Democrats for the school to watch. The event featured questions and speaking times much like the real presidential debates, with time for rebuttal and questions for each side. A full crowd of teachers and students came for well over an hour to watch the two sides have a friendly debate over key topics ahead of the upcoming election. I find that oftentimes politics can get very heated. However, at Groton, we do a great job of looking past political divides and recognizing that our relationships are not defined by politics. The Town Hall debate finished with an open question and answer from the crowd. The event ended in handshaking and pictures, but most importantly no hard feelings towards anyone on either side. In many places, it would be impossible to have a discussion like that without people getting upset. The Groton community does such a good job making sure everyone's voices are accepted and heard regardless if everyone agrees with you or not. This type of educated political discourse will continue to be important to members of the Groton community.