Illinois legislative leaders will discuss current government issues at a forum tonight in Ryan Family Auditorium at 7 p.m., the second time in two years that a relatively new organization has brought major Illinois politicians to campus.
The forum, a new event at NU, is hosted by the Civic Awareness Organization, the same organization that brought Gov. Rod Blagojevich to campus last year. University President Henry S. Bienen will moderate this year’s discussion.
Andrew Madigan, a co-president of Civic Awareness, said the idea for the forum started over the summer.
“Clearly there was a strong interest from all four legislative leaders to want to educate people and create civic awareness,” said Madigan, whose father, Michael Madigan, is Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and a participant in the forum. “There was also the idea about how unprecedented the idea was. I think it will be momentous because it hasn’t occurred before.”
When Blagojevich spoke on campus last April at the invitation of Madigan’s group, then called the Political Awareness Organization, it was the first time the NU alum had made an appearance on campus since being elected in 2002.
Leaders participating in the forum include Senate President Emil Jones Jr., Michael Madigan, Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson and House Minority Leader Tom Cross. The four are the major leaders for both parties in the Illinois legislature.
The most difficult aspect of organizing the forum was trying to coordinate a date on which all the leaders were free, Andrew Madigan said.
“My guess is that it took probably a month to really nail down a date for all the leaders,” he said. “We were very fortunate to be able to get participation from all four leaders.”
Weinberg senior Dan Schaffer, who started the Civic Awareness Organization with Madigan in 2006, said the topics for the forum are set with the hope that it will benefit students.
The leaders will discuss health care, current events and the economy, and emphasize the importance of civic participation, Madigan said.
“Our expectation is for people to come and benefit from hearing the politicians speak,” Schaffer said. “We want to put a face to the types of policies being created in Springfield. We want especially for students to understand why the politicians decided to do what they did.”
A question and answer session will follow the discussion. Audience members will be able to write their questions on index cards during the discussion and pass them up for the leaders to answer, Schaffer said.
Medill sophomore Alyssa Eisenstein attended the Governor’s event last year, and said she was impressed by how the group was able to bring such a high profile leader to NU. After hearing about the leaders forum, she decided to join Civic Awareness and has been helping publicize the event.
“Personally I just hope there’s a large turnout,” Eisenstein said. “I’m from Illinois and I’m familiar with them, but I think it’s important for people to come and learn about Chicago politics. They are all big name people, and it’s really cool that they’re coming.”
The forum is sponsored by the University Office of Government Relations. Madigan said university officials supported the group’s efforts by helping in organizing and communicating with other university offices.
“We are here to help student groups with this type of thing,” said Bruce Layton, special assistant to the president for government relations. “We believe the forum has educational values by showing the importance of students being politically involved.”
Reach Renee Lee at [email protected].
