With topics ranging from Greenland to Ukrainian aid, Political Converse gives students an opportunity to engage in "civil discussion rather than debate or argument," first-year political science student Maria Evans said.
Political Converse, or Poli Con, is a student-run organization at USC that strives for students to reach common ground on current political topics. The club was founded by Evans and first-year international studies and Russian student Madison Bailey.
The origins of Poli Con can be traced back to its president and co-founder’s experience in high school. Bailey, the president of Political Converse, realized something was missing from her college experience: a safe space for discussing politics with her peers.
Having been the president of a similar club in high school, Bailey wanted to create something similar at USC. She started this process last semester with co-founder Evans, who serves as secretary.
Open to all students and professors, meetings start with attendance and snacks, followed by a brief presentation on whatever topic has been chosen for discussion. Topics are proposed periodically by members and are then chosen from by officers.
After the presentation, the vice presidents of the club, all of whom represent different political parties, each give a presentation explaining their political party’s stance on the topic. Following these presentations, the floor is opened to anyone for discussion. To help coordinate respectful conversation, Bailey also serves as a mediator, calling on members to speak as they raise their hands to avoid people talking over one another.
For second-year political science student Hunter Russell, the difference in the environment at Poli Con compared to his other experiences when talking politics is a welcome change.
“It feels a lot more calmer and safer, so even if you say something that maybe not everybody agrees with, they’ll still try to understand your point and how you got there and communicate with you, and it feels like a two-way street rather than just both of you guys talking to a wall and not really with each other," Russell said.
To address concerns that discussion could get heated, the club’s constitution includes a three-strike rule. According to Poli Con’s constitution, “different active members must submit a written complaint three (3) times,” with the accused being notified and told the reason for the complaint. If a member reaches three complaints, all three vice presidents must unanimously agree before a member is permanently removed from the club.
This rule was put in place as a precaution to prevent people from being "disrespectful to each other during debate or being disruptive to discussion," Bailey said.
“It’s never been used. I hope it will never be used. I don’t think it will because we are all adults, but just in case," Bailey said.
The club also has two members who serve as researchers. One of the researchers, third-year political science student Madison Bolig, prepares for club meetings by consulting articles she finds on Google Scholar, as well as Oxford studies and other reliable sources of data and statistics.
During meetings, both researchers serve as fact-checkers, “focus(ing) not more so on when (members) state their own opinion but when they bring up numbers or facts,” Bolig said.
Beyond research and fact-checking, Bolig said Political Converse has become a source of happiness for her.
“I feel like seeing that and people coming together no matter their political standing ... and see past the political standpoint and just see them as humans," Bolig said. "I feel like it brought me a lot of happiness seeing that."
In addition to meetings, the club also hopes to engage with the student body through voting drives aimed at helping students register to vote. The club plans to start these events next semester, according to Bailey.
In the future, Poli Con hopes to continue to grow its membership while creating an environment that introduces students to new and different viewpoints, a value Evans shares.
“I think ultimately to grow, you have to be able to take in other points of view and learn what they think and also just be able to stay strong in your beliefs while accepting others is just an important life skill to have," Evans said. "Because ... if you don’t have respect for others who think differently than you, then it’s really hard to succeed in any profession at all."
Political Converse meets every other Wednesday from 6-7 p.m. More information about the club can be found on its Garnet Gate page and at @uofscpolicon on Instagram.