By Sophia Monson | Opinion Editor
Following the announcement that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico will visit Baylor’s campus, members of the Baylor community have begun discussing the event both on-campus and online.
Talarico will host a campaign event at 7 p.m. Sept. 16 in the Mark and Paula Hurd Center, with e-tickets available to students, faculty and staff. This follows Baylor’s invitation to both Texas’ Republican and Democratic Senate candidates. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s team was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts, while Talarico accepted the invitation.
Students who spoke on the matter came from different political backgrounds, but said they hoped the event could encourage civil discourse on campus.
San Antonio senior Jacob Dieguez said that while he doesn’t plan to attend the event, he believes Baylor creates an environment for healthy political discussions.
“I feel like this creates a safe space for people to talk about topics [we] don’t normally talk about,” Dieguez said. “Baylor is relatively one of the easier places to deal with stuff like [this] because we all have something that connects us outside of politics, which is we’re on a Christian campus.”
Discussion surrounding Talarico’s visit has also reached Baylor classrooms. Dallas senior Benjamin Bower said the campaign stop recently became a topic of conversation in his biochemistry class.
“It sounded like most of the people in the class were excited about it,” Bower said. “I think they enjoyed or appreciated the idea of someone who shares different views coming and speaking.”
While Bower acknowledged that political discussions can create tension on campus, he said the opportunity for civil discourse is beneficial.
“There is always potential with political figures that it will cause strife of some sort, but I also think that good discussion is always a net positive,” Bower said.
San Antonio sophomore William Crews, who said he disagrees with Talarico politically, shared a similar perspective and is not opposed to his presence on campus.
“I think that there will be some tension,” Crews said. “There are people at Baylor who are major supporters of him and people, like me, who heavily disagree with him. But my hope is that it would foster helpful, productive civil discourse. And particularly, on the question of whether that is somebody who should be elected to the United States Senate.”
Crews said he is considering attending the event with friends to better understand the candidate’s perspectives.
“I would hope to learn a little bit more about what exactly his policies are, what he supports, what he pushes for and where exactly he stands on some of the issues I’ve heard soundbites of,” Crews said.
