By Alex Meade, student writer
CAMPBELLSVILLE, KY. — Campbellsville University will host a live political forum Tuesday, May 1 during which candidates for mayor of Campbellsville will be questioned.
The forum will be broadcast live on WLCU-TV beginning at 7 p.m. from Ransdell Chapel.
Campbellsville Mayor Tony Young faces former mayor Brenda Allen, Steven Seibech, Patricia “Patti” Phillips, Sharon Hoskins-Sanders and Roger Robertson in the primary on Tuesday, May 22.
The two receiving the most votes will face each other in November for the office.
The number of candidates for mayor and the fact some are better known than others was the subject of a class exercise in MAC 380 Persuasion taught by Stan McKinney, associate professor of journalism.
The assignment was to determine what each candidate would have to do to persuade voters to vote for him or her.
Alex Swanger, a graduating senior who is a member of the class, said it became apparent that many of the candidates are not very well known and little information is available on them.
Swanger decided a political forum open to the public and broadcast live on WLCU-TV would help voters learn more about the candidates.
“I decided to organize this event because I believe it is our duty, as citizens, to actively participate in government and community affairs,” Swanger said.
Candidates will be asked a series of questions by a panel of students from Campbellsville University. They will have two to three minutes to answer.
Swanger said the public will be asked to submit questions through social media, email and letters.
The forum will be open to the public, but audience members will not be permitted to directly ask questions of the candidates.
Signs, cheering, clapping, etc. also will not be permitted for those in the audience.
Those attending will be able to submit written questions as they enter the chapel. She said all of the questions will be given to the candidates. They can reply later, she said, provided the person asking the question includes contact information.
“I believe in making informed decisions, and I wanted to offer an opportunity to the community to attend an event where each candidate can present his or her reasons for running, solutions for prominent issues in the community and give voters more information before the election,” Swanger said.
WLCU-TV is available on Comcast Channel 10. If you have an antenna, it is available on digital Channel 23.1.
The forum will also be live streamed on the university's website at https://www.campbellsville.edu/about/media/wlcu-tv/.
(Log on to the university's website at www.campbellsville.edu. Click on the link at the top that says “About” then click on the link to “Media.” On the left, click on WLCU-TV).
Campbellsville University is a widely-acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 8,000 students offering over 90 programs of study including 20 master's degrees, six postgraduate areas and seven pre-professional programs. The university has off-campus centers in Kentucky cities Louisville, Harrodsburg, Somerset and Hodgenville with instructional sites in Elizabethtown, Owensboro, Summersville and Liberty, all in Kentucky, and one in Costa Mesa, Calif., and a full complement of online programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.
-30-