Northwestern College Democrats and conservative student group NU Young America’s Foundation co-hosted a debate on the presence of oligarchy in the United States Tuesday evening.
College Democrats Co-President Adam Durr and YAF President Caleb Nunes both said they were hoping for a productive discussion with agreement on issues across the party line. The presidents and their vice presidents moderated the debate.
“We’re hoping there’s going to be some crossover between Republicans and Democrats on both sides,” Durr said.
The debate started with a reminder of the rules: be respectful, speak one at a time, follow the moderators’ directions and feel free to change your mind.
Moderators projected prompts on the screen of the classroom and asked participants to go to one side of the room if they agreed with the statement and the other side if they disagreed. If they didn’t know how they felt, they were told to stand in the middle. Then, moderators called on students on either side to speak.
The first prompt asked students if they thought corporate donors have too much influence over elected representatives. Everyone in the room agreed they did.
The second prompt asked if Elon Musk has too much influence over the executive branch. Again, everyone agreed he does, but Nunes offered nuance to the conversation.
“I do think that a lot of the fears about (Musk) are overblown about whether the administration itself is overstepping its authority,” Nunes said.
Another prompt asked participants if they thought there was a concerning amount of waste in federal spending. There were an equal number of people who agreed and who were unsure about their beliefs.
The question ignited debate on how to define “wasteful” spending, the efficacy of U.S. foreign aid and conversations on defense and welfare spending.
“The majority of our money goes to the military, how much of that money is actually being used effectively?” McCormick junior Emilie Tueting asked.
As the audience debated welfare spending, the moderators performed a fact check and provided clarity with welfare statistics and beneficiaries of U.S. aid.
The final prompt asked students if they were concerned about a lack of accountability in the executive branch. Only three students said they were not concerned.
Members of both clubs debated whether the question was targeting Trump and brought up the question of whether he should serve jail time. Some members of College Democrats argued that the issue of accountability goes beyond Trump himself and is instead embedded in his administration.
The discussion continued for a full hour. Durr said this was the first forum for open debate that College Democrats and YAF have co-hosted this year, and he is hoping for more in the future.
Email: mayaikenberry2026@u.northwestern.edu
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