VSU presidential debate series: Students, public tackle voter engagement

The stage was set. The lights were on. Dozens of spectators were in the audience in the room where President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are slated to square off during the second presidential debate of the 2024 election.

Instead of the two presumptive presidential nominees, MSNBC’s Symone Sanders-Townsend and Dr. Wendy Osefo fielded questions on the stage from Virginia State University’s Dr. Wesley Bellamy and the audience, which was made up of students and members of the public.

Questions from audience members ranged from concerns about the two-party system in the U.S. to curiosity about Sanders-Townsend and Osefo’s experience as Black women on national news television outlets.

The Wednesday morning forum acted as a dry run for the presidential debate, still months away. It launched VSU’s HBCU Voter Empowerment Conference, a day of learning and reflection for attendees on the power of civic engagement.

Attendees took part in mini classes throughout the day, on the floor of VSU’s Multipurpose Center – an arena that can seat more than 6,000. Those mini classes focused on organizing, advocacy and policy, and tackling the big question ahead of November: Why elections matter.

They were given a crash course in effective methods of community organizing, including a method called the “AEIOU” method, which means acknowledge, educate, investigate, organize and uplift. Attendees were asked to think of issues they see within their communities and to apply the method to push for change.

Attendees also examined the connection between advocacy and policy making and discussed different ways to advocate for themselves and their community – including on social media, through phone banking and peaceful demonstrations. They explored how to draft legislation to support advocacy efforts and held a mock primary election, with members of the audience as candidates, to emphasize the importance of voting in all elections.

VSU students share their thoughts on young voter engagement

Xavier Isaac, a senior who will graduate in May from VSU attended Wednesday’s event and said he plans to come back to campus for the October debate. He hopes to ask the nominees some questions.

“I hope that this sets a precedent and brings more attention to VSU as a college and brings more money and investments from both the federal and state level,” he said of the debate. “I believe that this is a good opportunity for the school to really expand and show its potential.”

Danielle Clayton, a freshman and political science major at VSU, said Wednesday’s event was important to help educate the community and youth on the importance of voting. She will vote for the first time in a presidential election in November.

“I know many of my peers feel like it doesn’t affect them, or they don’t know the importance of local elections or presidential. But I feel like if they would vote more, the elected would have to advocate for the things we need,” she said.

Afia Owusu, also a freshman and political science major at VSU, said she plans to take what she learned at Wednesday’s event to push for positive change in her community while she runs for class council. She will also vote for the first time in a presidential election in November. She said she’s worried about the presumptive candidate’s tokenizing Black voters during the election cycle.

“I just hope that it doesn’t turn into an event where they use and ridicule Black issues as a way to gain Black voters, but not really do anything when they get into elected office,” she said.

Members of the public share their thoughts on the coming debate

Evelyn Johnson, a VSU alum and CEO of a small business incubator called In The Beginning who attended Wednesday’s event, said she felt proud that the university will host the first presidential debate to be held at a historically Black college and university, or HBCU, in October.

“To just give more voice to communities that normally don’t get to have that voice at the table, it’s great. I think this whole facility itself, lends itself to progress, and I’m really proud of that,” she said.

Christian Johnson, Evelyn’s son who attended Wednesday’s event and has worked to organize with the Chesterfield County Democratic Party, said he felt good about the debate being held at VSU.

“I think that kind of represents and shows how far, as people and descendants of slaves, have come,” he said. “I just think it’s a really good thing, that it is going to be here. I think it’s a good thing for the community and it’s a good thing for the state, for Virginia.”

Wednesday’s HBCU Voter Empowerment Conference was the second event in a series, open to the public, that will leadup to the October 1 presidential debate. More information about upcoming events can be found at https://debate2024.vsu.edu/.

Read more on the upcoming presidential debate at VSU here:

VSU presidential debate series: Dr. Meldon Hollis talks presidents, support for HBCUs

VSU students explore questions about representation as they prepare for the 2024 debate

VSU to host presidential debate in 2024

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: VSU presidential debate series: Students, public tackle voter engagement