Speakers should address timely issues

Eric Hydrick / Columnist

It’s great that Elon works so hard to bring in good speakers year after year. But usually they only make reference to some of the current events going on in the world while continuing with the speeches they had prepared since they were scheduled long in advance.

Elon should establish some sort of program that would address various current issues throughout the year to allow students to gain perspectives on these events and also to make their opinions known.

Many of the speakers at Elon are scheduled well in advance of their arrival here. After all, the school has to start advertising these people at the beginning of the year.

But it would be great if Elon either had some way of reaching out to get speakers during the year for the current semester, or could start forums or debates on pressing issues. This would keep students involved in what’s going on in the world, and better yet, keep everyone informed. The topics would be easy to choose, just simply scan the news media for major stories and also check to see what issues are appearing consistently in The Pendulum.

For instance, in the previous three weeks, the issue of gay marriage has come up in some shape, form or fashion in The Pendulum. It would be outstanding if Elon could arrange for some kind of speaker, debate or forum on the issue. This would help us learn more about the issue, ask questions about it, speak our minds on the subject and also prompt further intellectual discussion both inside and outside the classroom.

This provides a much more substantial learning experience than just some lecture in a classroom. When learning occurs in this many ways, a university has truly succeeded in its goal of educating its students.

This kind of idea isn’t unprecedented on Elon’s campus either. Last year, a forum was held on whether the United States should go to war with Iraq.

However, the threat of war isn’t the only reason to organize such an event.

There are many issues worth discussing in such an environment today – the economy is lagging and jobs are moving overseas, the gay marriage question is coming up more and more often, public education is still lagging in some states, Iraq is still a controversial mess, rebels have been very active in Haiti; the list goes on. It’s important that Elon students be aware of what is going on both in the country and in the world, especially during an election year.

It may not be feasible to bring in many guest speakers on such short notice, but it is possible to organize a faculty-led forum or some kind of student debate on many of the issues at hand. It would be an interesting way of keeping students involved in what’s going on outside our proverbial bubble.

But even better yet, it would be interesting. Elon students do like to discuss and debate topics that concern them. If Elon could provide a way to offer such discussion and debate on these topics outside the classroom, I think it would be surprising how many people come.

Elon should definitely plan all year to bring in quality speakers for the next year. But it should also work throughout the year to bring in speakers for that year, while things are still “fresh” and current. Otherwise, all we hear from these big-name speakers are passing references to issues we want to hear in-depth discussion on.

Perhaps it’s time that Elon took an active approach to addressing current events outside the classroom. It’s nice to hear all these famous people come talk to us, but sometimes we’d like to hear them talk to us about the world today, not what it could be in the future or how we can prepare ourselves for that future. After all, today is the start of that future.