By Leslie Yada
One political showdown, five political science professors, and one minute to make an argument.
The Political Science Club, Phi Theta Kappa, has organized a debate between the professors of the Political Science department. This April, in Boykin 105, was the Spring 2019 Professor Showdown, which is held each semester.
The event was ran by Phi Theta Kappa officers Gabriela Fernandez and Megan Maxwell. Both Fernandez and Maxwell asked questions to the professors and would pick one out for each question.
Maxwell had a gavel to represent the time dwindling down for the professors.
“What is the true impact of the Mueller report and is it worth it to move to move forward with the possibility of impeachment?” asked Fernandez.
“The true impact is that it tells a very sordid story about behavior, whether it’s illegal behavior or behavior we think is unethical or inappropriate for people of the highest level of power,” Professor David Andrus said. “The issue with impeachment I think is that it’s currently capturing the imaginations of everyone because of the Mueller report.”
“I’m just going to say no, we should not move forward with impeachment,” Professor Phil Gussin said. “Personally, we need to stop using the word collusion. There is no federal crime called collusion, it’s called conspiracy. And they didn’t find evidence of conspiracy, not that there wasn’t things done that were shady, but whether or not you can prove the reasonable doubt that could be done that can prove it.”
The professors discussed their argument, and most of the time all the professors would agree and add on to the previous argument.
In an interview with Professor Nick Hernandez I asked, “Where do you see yourself on the political spectrum?”
“In the classroom I’m supposed to be nonpartisan,” Hernandez said. “I’m supposed to give students the information and then allow them to decide for themselves. I would say politically, I’m fairly moderate but left leaning.”
With a large turnout, the debate was a success. As it gives professors a platform to connect with students on another level outside of the classroom, it allowed professors to expand their views politically as they don’t typically get to in the classroom. While all professors involved continued to provide their support for the organization, the overall support from students has grown overall, making this year’s Professor Showdown a successful one.