In the wake of the presidential election, the nation is buzzing with dialogue about the results and the two main candidates. FCC’s Dean of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Brian Stipelman, believes in the power of words and the importance of giving a structure to the political dialogue in the college.
Stipelman earned a doctorate in political science from Rutgers University. He is passionate about politics, and with the most recent race for the oval office being one of the most controversial in recent memory, he wanted to help FCC students understand the situation.
“When you’re talking about things that you do or do not like,” said Stipelman in a recent interview, “it’s important to try to understand them anthropologically and scientifically, regardless of whether or not you personally support [Donald] Trump, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders or somebody else.”
Stipelman decided that FCC needed a setting where students and faculty alike could express their political opinions in a civil, yet open discussion. Stipelman chose to host a series of two open forum and Q&A sessions. The first was titled “It’s the End of the World as We Know It Part I: Pre-Election discussion” which covered the two main party candidates.
“I do not think disagreements are ever going to go away, but societies can do better or worse at facilitating dialogues,” Stipelman stated.
Stipelman expressed how political dialog is not only healthy for college students trying to form their own worldviews, but for society as a whole. To emphasize this point, he turned to the fact that millennials are the first group in modern times to view socialism as favorably as capitalism. When a subject or viewpoint can be articulated, it becomes normal to talk about and it becomes acceptable to advance these ideas. “Once you advance those ideas,” Stipelman explained, “certain sorts of politics and policies can follow.”
Stipelman holds a firm belief that by offering students a setting to facilitate conversations about important issues, it will further the political status quo. Stipelman further stressed the importance of discussing political topics in mere day-to- day conversation. He emphasized that by just talking about an issue, the closer it comes to being resolved.
“Just the act of conversation is a political act; we get the kind of politics we imagine are possible,” said Stipelman. “This is what people miss about politics; a lot of politics is storytelling and imagination.”
Stipelman went on to explain other reasons why open campus political forums are especially important for students to attend. One such reason was that politics are hard to understand. Stipelman explained that to truly understand politics, one must study it professionally. People who have not spent years of their lives studying politics and economics may have a very shallow understanding of the political process and its many complexities.
“I could not perform surgery,” said Stipelman. “I didn’t spend 10 years learning to become a doctor. It’s not your intelligence, it’s how you’ve devoted you time.”
The open forum was originally going to be held in a smaller room in the Student Center. However, the turnout far exceeded expectations, forcing the event to move to a large hall in the Conference Center.
“The turnout was great, I was flattered,” Stipelman noted. “Of course some of them were there because their professors asked them to come,” he added with a smile.
For the first half of the event, Stipelman presented facts and statistics about the two candidates. One such statistic showed that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the two most unpopular presidential candidates in the last 30 years. At one point during the forum, Stipelman stated that they are also the two most unpopular candidates in the history of polling.
“Everyone in this election is speaking to somebody in a profound way,” explained Stipelman. “There’s something about their message that is attractive to millions of people, and I think a more productive use of our time as a community is understanding what is it about that message that is attractive.”
Throughout the rest of the program, Stipelman continued on about the two candidates, touching on race issues, income inequality, generation gaps, and other sociopolitical issues. But Stipelman made it clear that he is more interested in finding out why people hold certain views on political issues, instead of jumping in the ring and joining the fray of upset, frightened, and disenfranchised voters.
“It’s more interesting to me,” stated Stipelman, “to try to understand what it is about an idea, a person, a movement, a moment in time that generates that much support, and that much passionate loyalty.”
Joshua Moore, a student at FCC and a political science major, is deeply invested in government and followed the 2016 president race very closely. He is also interested in knowing how his peers think about social issues. Moore also realizes the importance of events like the ones hosted by Stipelman.
“It’s important for young voters to understand what the issues are and how they can be involved in them,” said Moore.
Moore said that he attended the forum purely out of his interest in what other people had to say.
“I like to listen to what other people think about it,” said Moore. “Hearing other people’s point of view is honestly one of my favorite things to learn about – it helps me understand how I think about it.”
He said that it made him happy to see that are people his age who care about what’s happening. Almost more important to him, Moore explained, was seeing that students want information.
“That’s extremely important for our generation,” said Moore.
William Lamkin, another student who was present at the forum, says his reasons for attending were also out of interest in the views of his fellow students.
“I wanted to hear the opinions of people on campus,” said Lamkin. “I think it’s good to start conversations. Spreading different opinions is the best way to come to conclusions about the problems that we’re facing.”
Lamkin and Moore were not the only students to attend the forum. Many other students and faculty were also in attendance and based on the turnout that was witnessed, it is evident that they found the subject matter important enough to be present for the event.
“I think voting is important. School is too, but you should make the time to come to an event like this because it doesn’t happen very often,” said Lamkin.
One of the faculty members in attendance, Leslie Puzio, had input of her own. During the “Q&A” section of the event, she stood up and spoke about the importance of reading the body language. She recommended that student watch the debates on mute, so as to better compare the two candidates’ body language.
“I think the students had a lot of great points,” said Puzio. “I really liked the presentation that was provided by Dr. Brian Stipelman, in a sense of giving students a background as well as the talking points on where each candidate stands.”
In order to maintain open dialogue among the students, Stipelman hosted a second event titled “It’s the End of the World as We Know It Part II: Post-Election Results and Processing.” This event discussed the possible outcomes and consequences of the nation’s decision to elect Donald Trump as the president of the United States.
While it is yet unknown how the president-elect will fair, it appears certain that Stipelman will be watching closely. Equally as certain is his mission to continue fostering on-campus open political discussions; for the purpose of keeping students informed and giving them a place to voice their views in safety.
“I think we’re uniquely situated within this area to be the kind of institution that supports those kinds of dialogues and makes that space available,” said Stipelman.
As FCC students absorb the election results, along with the rest of the world, these open dialogues will likely become more important than ever. They will serve as a place for students on all sides of the political spectrum to come together and advance themselves as citizens and as voters.
“It’s their future,” said Puzio on being asked why students should attend these events. “I think it’s really important for students to participate in these events so they’re aware of what’s going on. Because, it’s like everyone says, you can only change the future if you’re a part of it.”
[Editor’s Note: We originally stated that Dr. Stipelman held a masters in political science and a doctorate in philosophy. This information was inaccurate and we apologize to Dr. Stipelman.]
