Former Congress members head to GC&SU campus

Former congressional representatives Martha Keys and Bill Barrett will bring Congress to Campus from Feb. 28 to March 1.

Georgia College & State University is one of eighteen campuses this semester that will proudly host the program which features retired congressional representatives of both the Democratic and Republican parties.

“We’re just very privileged that we have the opportunity to spend two and a half days with people that have served their states, Kansas and Nebraska respectively, and their nation,” said Director of the Paul Coverdell Institute Gregg Kaufman. “They can share with us the challenges, the joys and even the sorrows that are part of the whole democratic process.”

The program will feature a town hall meeting atmosphere for the event Hard Choices Facing the 109th Congress: Social Security, Health Care, Faith-based Funding, and International Relations. The event will occur on Monday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Magnolia Room of the Students Activities Center.

Kaufman said the meeting will be moderated by Government & Sociology Chair Michael Digby and manned by members of both the Law and Society Student Organization and the Student Government. During the meeting, the crowd will be able to ask questions of Keys and Barrett through the moderator. The goal is to show some semblance of how democracy works.

“One of the fundamental purposes of Congress to Campus is to model civil discourse,” said Kaufman. “To illustrate that people who represent our nation and are engaged in developing legislation for the country can speak passionately from different political positions and at the same time do it in a way that is respectful.”

During the two day program, students will have several other opportunities to meet and visit with both Keys and Barrett. Select political science and ethics classes will be treated to lectures by the former representatives while many student organizations will get the opportunity to speak personally with them.

Assistant Professor of Government & Sociology Chris Grant expects that students will get a taste of real politics during the program.

“Any opportunity for students that are interested in politics to interact with experienced politicians is great,” Grant said. “You learn so much more from someone that has actually ‘been there’ as opposed to someone that has not. It raises the possibility of some of our own students considering a political career–maybe even a run for Congress.”

Keys, a Democrat, was recently appointed by the president to the Social Security Advisory Board, an independent, bipartisan board created to advise the president, the congress and the commissioner of Social Security.

Barrett, a Republican, served five terms in Congress and was re-elected by more than 75 percent each term as he cut across partisan lines to collect votes from both republicans and democrats. He also served on several key committees during his time in office.

Grant hopes that students will gain some insight into the reality of politics and the men and women who participate in it.

“Most politicians are good people who care passionately about issues and people even though they disagree on decisions that are made about policy. It is good for all of us to come to respect our elected leaders,” Grant said.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 25 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry