On Tuesday, Oct. 1, a vice presidential debate watch party was held in room 203S of Rhodes Hall.
American Democracy Project (ADP) Coordinator Kim Schmidl-Gagne hosted the watch party, bearing snacks and drinks for those who came. The VP debate, moderated and aired by CBS News, streamed over the projector for watchers from around 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Jacob Favolise, a senior political science major and Keene city councilor for Ward 1 said he felt, “It is important that we [voters] pay attention to what is going on in our democracy, that we are informed voters.”
The debate was the first and only one between VP candidates, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. The candidates focused on many issues such as healthcare, reproductive rights, foreign policy and immigration, with Vance commenting that we need to, “stop the bleeding” regarding the southern U.S. border and Walz rebutting, “ We had the fairest and the toughest bill on immigration that this nation has seen.”
Students seemed to think the debate went well with folks, such as Favolise who said, “I think this was a good debate with some good questions from the moderators and certainly a lot more civil than we have seen in the past few months.”
Jarod Wong, a senior, said he thought the debate went well. He added he wished they had opened the debate “in a way where they could introduce themselves more.”
Wong added, “You could really see it in the debate, where they didn’t even answer the first question. They just wanted to introduce themselves and their positions.”
The ADP is a program run by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCA), with Keene State College, being a member since 2007, is the only college or university in N.H. that is a member. The ADP states on its webpage it was founded in 2003 by the AASCA in conjunction with the New York Times with the goal of readying students to be engaged members of their community with an understanding of how the democratic system functions.
For those who have yet to register or are unsure of where they want to register, the polling station for Ward 1, which contains the KSC campus, will help students with same-day voter registration or visit the city clerk’s office at 3 Washington St. in City Hall. Students can reach out to Schimdl-Gagne via email at kgagne@keene.edu for any questions regarding the registration process.
Timothy Fitzpatrick can be contacted at
This story has been updated to correct the title of American Democracy Project Coordinator Kim Schmidl-Gagne. The Equinox apologizes for this error.
