by Karla Damian
WONC held its first Election Night Event on Nov. 5, 2024, with students and staff participating in the program to discuss certain issues they’re passionate about. Along with various station members, I was fortunate enough to help organize and be part of such a significant occasion.
From 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., we heard different perspectives on multiple pressing topics ranging from education censorship to climate change and women’s rights to protecting democracy. Listening to students with unique perceptions and a professor with an extensive teaching background created a one-of-a-kind experience.
WONC offers students to do weekday newscasts which are snippets of local, national, and sports news. To me, they’re a great way for students like me to stay connected with the latest information and grow as an informed citizen. However, spending 4 hours speaking about distinct issues was a whole new venture for me. I say this because there aren’t a lot of times when I get to hear my peers discuss serious topics in this manner. Everyone was able to have civil exchanges of ideas and show empathy for each other at the same time. Some, including me, had personal stories to share which yielded vulnerable and meaningful discourse.
I think it’s important to have special programs like this because it gives the community a chance to share the voices within it. As mentioned before, I haven’t had opportunities to do something like this with my peers. In addition to station members who went on air, we were joined by political science students. Having students from different majors with a particular set of knowledge made me aware of specific issues and their preciseness.
I think this night created a precedent for related programs to occur at WONC which can become a new way for how we approach news. We developed a space that allowed for productive conversations which resulted in my peers and me learning so much from everyone who participated. The goal of this was focusing on the issues themselves and not necessarily highlighting the political aspects. I hope future students are fortunate enough to do something like this event and use this as an example that it’s possible.
Overall, all of this would not have been achieved without the support of everyone on and off air. Being assigned to organize this was nerve wracking at first, but I’m proud of what was accomplished that night.
