UHV News

UHV News

Indecision events offer students chance to discuss big issues

As election season reaches its height, the University of Houston-Victoria has begun offering a series of events that help students discuss and learn about many of the issues and information that are being discussed across the nation.

Indecision 2024 is a series of online and in-person events that allow students, faculty, staff and community members to learn about local, state and national elections, candidates and issues and discuss their thoughts in a nonpartisan, constructive environment. The free events are organized by Woodrow Wagner, UHV director of institutional strategies.

Woodrow Wagner
Woodrow Wagner

“One of our goals was to promote civic engagement, and an election year is a good time for those discussions because there are so many people paying attention to these issues during this time,” Wagner said. “With that in mind, we chose to focus on big events and some of the major issues being discussed. More than anything, we wanted to engage with students, and there have been so many great conversations that came out of these events.”

The events covered topics and national issues, including the presidential debates, civic engagement, the future of education and weekly roundups focused on communications from political candidates. In addition, the university plans to host an online Election Night Extravaganza event that will offer hourly updates about political races and an open discussion about the results as the night progresses.

The inspiration for the effort to encourage student involvement and awareness of issues came from a quote from President George Washington’s farewell address in 1796: “Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.” As a university, UHV has a responsibility to “diffuse knowledge,” and university leaders hope to encourage students, faculty, staff and the community to make informed decisions rather than allowing media personalities and political rhetoric to decide for them, Wagner said.

For Jacob Pyatt, a senior psychology major from Victoria, the debate about the future of education offered a particularly unique opportunity. The event featured candidates running for various offices, but it was attended by many educational experts and leaders from the Victoria community, who were able to weigh in and share their experiences during the event. Pyatt served as the moderator during the debate.

Jacob Pyatt
Jacob Pyatt

“It was great to see not only candidates sharing their policy positions but acknowledging that there are some overall issues in education that everyone wants to address, and they seemed to be learning from the experts at the event,” Pyatt said. “When I speak with young adults about politics, they tend to fall into two areas. They either are going to the extreme right or left, or they are so tired of the division that they refuse to engage entirely. Offering events that let them hear facts and encouraging them to think for themselves is a great way to reach students.”

One event that had a particularly enthusiastic response was the session on civic engagement that featured an Asian American punk band named The Slants. The band leader shared how he went all the way up to the Supreme Court to be able to name the band the way they wanted. At the end of the event, Wagner remembered seeing attendees line up to get the band’s autographs and to express how they felt a connection with the band’s story.

“Many of UHV’s students are first-generation college students who grew up seeing their families stuck in cycles of exclusion,” Wagner said. “When I spoke with students after the event, they said the story resonated with them and made them feel like it was possible to be heard and not ignored when they choose to speak out.”

Another topic that has come up is how students get information from the media and social media, Wagner said. There have been discussions about mainstream media, how social media algorithms impact what news individuals see, and how infotainment media, such as The Daily Show or similar programs, have become the primary news sources for many young people today.

“Some of our best discussions have been about these different media sources and how they affect the image of candidates,” Wagner said. “I’m grateful that we have people at UHV who support promoting this kind of discourse and encourage our students to make truth-based decisions. It’s encouraging to know that students are beginning to understand that many of these issues will impact their lives.”

The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.