Although the Louisiana primaries have passed, Loyola students got their own chance to voice their opinions Feb. 13 in the St. Charles Room.

The Society for Civic Engagement invited all students to participate in Loyola’s first caucus, aimed to establish a consensus on the students’ political platform and presidential endorsement.

Roughly based on the format of the Iowa caucus, the forum allowed students timed intervals to assert opinions and rebuttals on selected political issues. After each issue had been debated, students chose a side and were counted. The liberal resolution gained the most votes for each of the five issues, which were: abortion, public housing, gay marriage, immigration and the environment.

LSCE chose the five issues and drafted conflicting resolutions to represent liberal and conservative stances. Through e-mail students and faculty were notified of the issues to promote class discussion before caucus night, said Nicole Kone, liberal co-chairwoman of LSCE. To gain further attention for the event, LSCE put up flyers around campus and sent out messages on Facebook.

“We wanted to get students amped for it,” said Kone, English writing senior.

Some topics garnered more attention than others among the 67 students who attended. Several students spoke about abortion, particularly those against its practice. Veronica Sanchez, religious studies freshman, argued for the rights of infants while still in the womb: “Just because the embryo is at a different stage of development than us doesn’t mean its rights should be denied.”

A student speaking at the other microphone rebutted: “As a man, I don’t have the right to say what a woman does with her body. I don’t think the government or me has the right to decide.”

Other issues did not see as much dialogue. Nobody spoke for the conservative platform on the issues of the environment and marriage. A woman who grew up with gay parents delivered an impassioned speech in support of extended rights for gay couples.

For students who could not attend, a summarized version of the caucus was made available on an online chatroom where students could respond and even vote on resolutions. The online conversation was projected on the wall of the St. Charles Room during the event.

After all five issues of the platform were debated and decided upon, students nominated five political candidates and formed groups according to their preference. After each group was counted the members were allowed five minutes to convince members of other groups to change their minds before choosing candidates a second time. Barack Obama won the endorsement set by the final vote. The remaining candidates had the following results: Ron Paul (12), Hillary Clinton (11), John McCain (2), Mike Huckabee (2).

Although no conservative issues made the platform, Garlan White, conservative co-chairman of LSCE, said the caucus was an overall success. He said the small turnout allowed the diehard politicos to have an organized forum to speak.

“Even though Louisiana already had our … primary, it’s still valid to have one on campus where the students can be involved,” said White, finance senior. “Our view might not be the same as the rest of the population.”

Both White and Kone mentioned LSCE putting on another event especially after the national election comes down to two or three candidates.

Steve Heath can be reached at [email protected].

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