Ohio Wesleyan To Hold 2016 Republican Mock Presidential Convention Feb. 5-6
Community Invited to Help Debate National GOP Platform, Nominate Candidates at Campus Event
DELAWARE, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University students will approve a Republican Party platform and select presidential and vice presidential candidates during the university’s 2016 Republican Mock Presidential Convention. The two-day event, replicating a national nominating convention, will take place Feb. 5-6 in University Hall’s Gray Chapel, 61 S. Sandusky St., Delaware.
The convention will kick off at 4 p.m. Feb. 5, with opening ceremonies and platform debates continuing until 10 p.m. The evening will include remarks from U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Tiberi, R-Genoa Township, and former Ohio Rep. Jo Ann Davidson, the first woman ever elected speaker of the Ohio House.
OWU’s Mock Convention will resume at 9 a.m. Feb. 6, concluding at 1 p.m. following the nomination of GOP candidates to square off against Democrats in November. The public is invited to attend the 2016 Mock Convention, an Ohio Wesleyan tradition dating back 132 years.
Because the event traditionally features the party out of the White House, this year’s Mock Convention will focus on the Republican race. The theme of the convention is “Back on the Right Track.”
OWU senior Emma Drongowski of Franklin, Tennessee, co-executive director of the event, says Mock Convention helps Ohio Wesleyan students become better informed about the upcoming presidential election and more familiar with how the nomination process works and how they can ensure their voices are heard.
“Mock Convention is indicative of the Ohio Wesleyan goal,” says Drongowski, a politics and government major, “which is to connect a liberal arts education to a practical way of helping the world. And Mock Convention is just a perfect example of that.”
To help students prepare for the convention, they were invited to attend three platform hearings in the fall: “CrISIS in the Middle East”; “Borderlines: Immigration in the 21st Century”; and “Drowning in Debt? The Politics of Student Debt.” In January, they were invited to attend “Speed Dating the Candidates,” a first-of-its-kind event with eight of their fellow students portraying the leading GOP candidates and courting them for votes.
Ohio Wesleyan held its first Mock Convention in 1884 and since 1920 has conducted the event during nearly every presidential election. Learn more about Mock Convention at owu.edu/MockConvention or www.facebook.com/OWUMock.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers 87 undergraduate majors and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Ohio Wesleyan combines a challenging, internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities to connect classroom theory with real-world experience. OWU’s 1,675 students represent 43 U.S. states and territories and 33 countries. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the latest President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.