{"id":2444,"date":"2015-10-19T08:00:49","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T12:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=2444"},"modified":"2015-10-19T08:00:49","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T12:00:49","slug":"centre-college-hosts-gubernatorial-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2015\/10\/19\/centre-college-hosts-gubernatorial-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Centre College hosts gubernatorial debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY CATHERINE HINES – STAFF WRITER<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As President Roush frequently tells us, \u201cCentre College is a place where important conversations occur\u201d and October 6 was no exception. Roughly 1,000 people packed into the Norton Center to watch Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway and Louisville businessman Matt Bevin debate the most important and pressing issues facing the state of Kentucky.<\/p>\n

The topics of the debate ranged from pensions to coal to common core.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am still digesting everything I heard,\u201d sophomore Emma King said following the debate.<\/p>\n

Both candidates engaged lively and respectfully with each other, and appeared confident and prepared to answer each question.<\/p>\n

This large-scale event, in order to be pulled off successfully, required many willing hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cCentre is to be commended\u2014its trustees, alums, faculty, staff, and students\u2014for creating an environment that encouraged both candidates to \u201cstep up their game,\u201d share their views, conduct themselves with appropriate decorum,\u201d President Roush wrote in an e-mail to students last week.<\/p>\n

President Roush created a special Debate Steering Committee composed of faculty and staff, which met several times throughout the semester. In addition to this committee, staff from ITS, DPS, facilities management, the President\u2019s Office, the Communications Office, and the Norton Center for the Arts all played a significant role in this debate.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur previous experience hosting two vice presidential debates (2000 and 2012) and a gubernatorial debate in 2007 likely gave the campaigns confidence that we could organize a first-rate event,\u201d Director of Communications Dr. Michael Strysick said.<\/p>\n

He added that \u201chosting an event like this puts both Centre College and Danville, Kentucky on the map and shows that we are serious about our rights and privileges as citizens and voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cService and volunteering are part of Centre\u2019s DNA, and hosting a debate offers the opportunity for the College as a whole serve the citizens of the Commonwealth,\u201d Dr. Strysick said.<\/p>\n

In addition, the value of the experience itself is priceless. Getting a front-row seat to the raw interaction between candidates banging out their ideas and putting on critical thinking hats in an attempt to evaluate who the most competent would be to hold the highest office in Kentucky are just several of the advantages for those students who attended and watched the debate.<\/p>\n

The important conversations that both preceded and followed the debate are effects of the debate and show this event as another effort of Centre to educate the students in a holistic way\u2014one that builds on the College\u2019s mission to enlighten the minds of future leaders.<\/p>\n

View staff photographer Justin Anderson’s photos from the debate below.<\/p>\n