Town Hall Meetings: A Dialogue for Change

Professor Tim Magrath, a Political Science teacher here at Frostburg State University, held the first Town hall meeting of the semester at the Atkinson Room located in the Lane Center. During these town hall meetings Magrath encouraged students to discuss current events, bring up topics, and receive feedback from their peers. The meetings are sponsored by the Office of Civic Engagement and the Institute for Public Affairs.

The town hall meeting began 6pm Tuesday in the Atkinson Room

The Town Hall meetings are for Frostburg State University students to participate in an open conversation about politics, about media, about issues that affect the students here at FSU. Dr. Twing stated that the meetings can address student specific issues, however, “It’s more about what are the most important domestic issues facing the country as we head into the presidential election.” This meeting’s main focus was upcoming presidential election; still, the discussion branched out into many hot topics in today’s politics.

FSU student John Lancaster introduced the first topic brought up for discussion. Prepared with notes on note cards he started a speech that advocated for the privatization of the police department. Lancaster’s well-supported argument took comments, questions, and suggestions from all sides of the room. This debate is the intended result of the meetings. Many young people, college students specifically, find themselves limited to only their opinion or view on a matter without knowledge of other sides. This causes unintentional ignorance no matter what the view. The joining of the students tonight brought in a variety of opinions from different locations such as Calvert County, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

John Lancaster after the town hall meeting

Lancaster’s topic dominated much of the meeting but many more topics were covered. Donald Trump's tax evasion, media’s manipulative tendencies, whether or not churches should be taxed, free college and the possibility of added GEP courses surrounding entrepreneurship, fracking, pollution, solar/nuclear energy, and police brutality were all addressed during the meeting.

(Left to Right) J Hunter Wright, Trevor Jones, and Tyler Bauer

The topics expanded in direction some deviating from their point but all topics showed how important it was to have this dialogue. As the meeting went on, participation increased and voices shared viewpoints that would not have been heard other wise. During the fracking discussion while many students expressed that they disapproved one student countered. She shared that while fracking has its negative effects, her hometown’s economy has improved drastically, some of the benefits being jobs and paved roads.  

Another topic that was discussed in detail was police brutality. The room had split reactions each recognizing that a problem existed, but divided regarding solutions and the root of the problem. Three students had claimed to have family members in law enforcement and each of them had something different to say about the topic. Trevor Jones suggested to “conduct dialogue sessions” as well “deliberation sessions” in the community in attempts to bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement.

Political science professor Tim Magrath. 

Tim Magrath had started these town hall meetings over a year and half ago. This semesters meetings started off centralizing on domestic issues. The following meetings will cover international issues and the final one will cover the presidential debate discussing what each candidate stands for. Including the meetings, Magrath also has a program called a Weekend Retreat. Magrath stated, “This program is basically path ways to public service. We try to get students to follow careers in public service and public affairs.” Through immersion Magrath hopes to get more students interested and more students involved.

“When they hear they’re colleagues talk about these issues they can understand better.” – Tim Magrath