Members of the Christ School Politics Discussion Club attended a lecture by New York Times columnist David Brooks on Thursday night at UNC Asheville.
Civil Discourse the Goal of New Club
Christ School students find common ground through political discussion
Miles Gardner '20 admittedly leans right on most issues, while Connor Booher '20 favors the left.
The two boys could meet in the middle on one thing: Christ School needed an outlet for Democrats and Republicans to share their viewpoints, even if they are too young to vote. Civil discourse is the intended goal of the new Politics Discussion Club, which was founded by Miles and Connor.
The group meets every one to two weeks. Hearty debates and discussion will be interspersed with listening to public speakers. Everyone from senators to members of the Asheville City Council have been invited to come to Christ School, and the Politics Discussion Club attended a lecture from New York Times columnist David Brooks on Thursday night at UNC Asheville.
"It's easy to bicker especially with the current climate in our country. Instead, we want this to be constructive and show differing points of view," Connor said. "We never want it to be just one-sided, and the great thing is there has been a lot of interest."
Indeed, Connor and Miles have signed up 20 other Greenies for their club: Doug Bland '19, Thomas Bolick '20, James Coleman '20, Marko Cvetkovic '19, Will DuBose '19, Max Field '20, Wesley Garbee '20, Wyatt Gildea '19, Mac Gortney '19, Wilton Graves '21, Lux Haney-Jardine '20, McCauley Hardison '21, Michael Mahoney '20, Max Masiello '20, Ted Peterson '19, Sunny Sang '20, Patrick Shea '20, Porter Thompson '20, Michael Wang '19, and Jackson Zemp '18.
History Department chair Ben Dowling is the club's faculty advisor. Miles said the 2016 Presidential Election is what inspired the creation of a political club.
"It's been good so far," Miles said.
"Connor and I were really intrigued by the election. He did a lot of debating in middle school, and we were always debating already. Mr. Dowling is a great moderator and everyone gets a turn to speak. Everyone gets a chance to give their opinion. It's open discussion that we try to keep civil."
