Thursday’s first ever “ONE Student | ONE Vote” event at the University of Central Arkansas was a huge success! Politico’s executive editor and co-founder Jim VandeHei moderated the discussion. The conversation leaders included UCA President Lu Hardin, national security expert with the Century Foundation Jeffrey Laurenti, State Senator Gilbert Baker, UCA professor Dr. Elaine Fox and two UCA students – Brooks Cato, who lived in Tanzania, Thailand and Costa Rica, and Emily Daniel, who participated in relief efforts in Central America.

The conversation covered reasons why students should be involved in the upcoming 2008 presidential elections and all of the different ways that involvement could occur. The conversation then shifted to ways we can become involved in our community to help those who most need our help around the world. Both Emily and Brooks have traveled abroad, as had other members of the panel, and had seen the extremely dire circumstances that many in the world’s poorest countries live in.

The panelists took questions from the student audience of more than 150 UCA students. Among the questions was one from a UCA student from Nigeria, who asked what UCA was doing to expand its study abroad programs. UCA President Hardin responded that it has been one of his top priorities to expand the program, and in the five years he’s been
president, the program has more than doubled in size.

Students left ONE Student | ONE Vote energized and enthusiastic about all of the different ways they could be involved in their community, as students and in the upcoming 2008 election.

-Kimberly Cadena