Following the importance of social media in President Barack Obama's 2008 election, students are encouraged to use Facebook and text messaging to pose questions to the president's top campaign strategist.
David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to the president, will speak at Emens Auditorium Nov. 14, and the Excellence in Leadership program is asking students to submit questions both before and during his lecture.
Mitch Isaacs, associate director of Student Life, said it's a good opportunity to hear from someone who works closely with the president.
"We watch the news, and we hear about what's happening, and we ask ourselves, ‘Why? Why was this decision made? How did this process happen? How did we get here?'" Isaacs said. "And the great thing about having someone like Mr. Axelrod on campus is he is one of the president's most trusted advisers, so he has often been in the room with the president when these decisions have been made."
Axelrod's lecture, "Witness to History: Leadership Lessons from a Presidential Advisor," will include a public question and answer session afterwards. Isaacs estimates that the question and answer period will last between 45 minutes and an hour, and he says there are plans to allow people in attendance to submit questions via text message. People can also come to a microphone to ask a question.
Isaacs said students can submit questions prior to the event via EIL's Facebook page. Two or three questions will be read during the question and answer period.
"Why on Facebook? Because students are on Facebook, and we know that's a medium that they're comfortable with," said Isaacs, who oversees the EIL program.
He said he hopes the questions posed on Facebook will spark conversations online about politics, the economy, and whatever people feel passionate about.
"I hope people will ask about whatever is important to them," Isaacs said. "What I would like to see happen is people frame those questions in a clear, concise and respectful manner."
Freshman Amanda Wehrman said she would like to ask the former adviser what Obama plans to do about the economy. She feels the president needs another four years to make effective changes.
"You really can't get a lot done in four years being the president nowadays, because the political parties are so strong nowadays that they're just clashing against each other," she said.
Freshman Dalton Duncan believes Obama has not accomplished what he promised during his 2008 campaign.
"I don't think he's done anything necessarily wrong at this point, but I think he's retracted a lot on what he said he was going to do," Duncan said. "If he had done what he said he was going to do, he would have been a very memorable and great president, but he chickened out on way too much."
Isaacs said he believes the extended time allotted to ask questions will allow students to learn from Axelrod and also learn more about what is important to their fellow students.
"I think sometimes that can be incredibly beneficial, because you know what's important to you," he said. "But until you participate in that discussion, until you attend events like this, you don't always understand what's important to others."
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