Politics Club hosted guest speakers Dr. Sam Page, St. Louis County Executive, and Denny Hoskins, Missouri Secretary of State, on Thursday, Apr. 17, and Thursday, Apr. 24, respectively.
Politics Club used to bring in guest speakers, but hasn’t for some time, senior Jack Voss, Politics Club president, said.
“I think before COVID was the last time we had one, so I’m very excited that the club’s bringing that back,” Voss said.
Voss said he emailed a number of public figures and politicians, and Dr. Page and Secretary Hoskins responded.
“I was excited to talk to these two politicians,” Voss said. “They’re like celebrities to me, and I hope that [the club was] excited.”
Scott Szevery, Politics Club sponsor, said the club started about 15 years ago when a student who was concerned about polarization wanted to find a way to encourage civil discourse between those with differing political beliefs. Dr. Page is a democrat, while Secretary Hoskins is a republican.
“I give a lot of credit to Jack Voss for doing the hard work,” Szevery said. “I did not have anything to do with getting these guest speakers this year. It’s all on him, and the fact that he got the two highest-level guest speakers we’ve ever gotten is pretty amazing.”
Dr. Page, who visited the club in-person, discussed his role as STL County Executive as well as his political experience, and answered prepared questions from the politics club.
Dr. Page said he likes to divide his time in the county geographically, and he hadn’t visited Marquette in a few years.
“Young folks need to see their elected leaders, and there’s a reasonable chance that one of [the politics club members] will be in the state legislature,” Dr. Page said. “Statistically, it comes out of these pockets, so I hope I can impress upon you that it’s a good idea to go do that.”
When asked how he wanted to be remembered as a county executive, Dr. Page said he wanted to be remembered for his fairness, willingness to make hard decisions, positive impact and support of citizens participating in government.
Secretary Hoskins joined the club via Zoom and discussed his role as Secretary and his political career. He also answered prepared questions from Politics Club. Secretary Hoskins offered an additional opportunity to the club: visit Jefferson City.
“We’d love to have you and give you an archives tour and take you on a tour of the capitol,” Secretary Hoskins said. “We’ll show you the archives and some of the cool documents that we have.”
Szevery said he was satisfied with both speakers’ time with the club.
“I thought it was really valuable to hear their perspectives and appreciate that they both come at their views with integrity and sincerity,” Szevery said. “I think sometimes people don’t realize that the other side may disagree with you, but they have really good reasons for it.”
Politics Club will have one more meeting this year as an end of year celebration on Thursday, May 1.
