The BYU College Democrats and College Republicans clubs treated students to a variety of political views in the Partisan Student Panel on Oct. 10.
The panel consisted of BYU students with views ranging from moderate to left or right-leaning. They were given questions about political issues such as immigration, the direction of their political party and gun control.
Each panelist selected to speak was interviewed by presidents of the BYU College Republicans and College Democrats clubs.
Dallin Bundy, president of the BYU College Republicans club, said the presidents previewed panelists to “ensure that there was a variety of beliefs on the panel.”
“We also tried to find students who ... actually might overlap a little in between the two parties just to showcase that there's a lot of variety within both political parties,” Bundy said.
This is not the first time this event has been held on campus. For Emma Moore, president of the BYU Democrats Club, this is her second time organizing a partisan student panel.
Moore said she helped with the event last year for the first time with the former president of the College Republicans club.
“It was our first time trying it and we enjoyed it so much that we thought we do again this year,” Moore said.
Each panelist for the event received a variety of questions to answer based on hot-button political issues such as gun control, the direction each political party is heading and immigration.
The panel was moderated by Garrett Brown, a friend to both the College Republicans and College Democrats presidents.
Though the panelists’ views on both sides contrasted with each other, they still treated each other with respect and kindness.
At times, some of the panelists found themselves agreeing with issues they would not have agreed on otherwise.
"I felt like there was a lot of agreement on the stage among the panelists, and it wasn't even intentional,” Michael Connel, a Republican on the panel, said.
He cited an example in which he found himself seeming to agree with the Democrats on criminal justice.
The way the panelists answered each question and respected each other was noticed by those attending the event.
“I liked the questions about trying to reach across the aisle, like what do you respect or admire about the opposing political party,” Aubree Remmel, a BYU alumni, said.
Pyper Schmutz, another attendee at the event, observed the panelists treated each other with a lot of civility. She added that this civility is not often seen at the national level.
Beck Seasmons, a BYU student, found it valuable to meet with peers with differing opinions from his.
“Sometimes it's hard to understand the other side, but then hearing them explain the values that cause them to believe ... it's good for me to see,” Seasmons said.
Before the event, Bundy expressed some of his expectations going into the night.
“We really just want to showcase the variety of thoughts,” Bundy said. “Hopefully, and especially in my case, the students can choose to align with some of these beliefs or seek to learn more from either of our partisan clubs or the students themselves.”
Aaron Spjut, a BYU student attending the event, spoke highly of the panelists on stage.
"I admired how they were willing to lean over the aisle and look on both sides of issues,” Spjut said.