It was not Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump taking the debate stage in the LBJ teaching theatre Wednesday; instead, it was the students of Texas State who took the podium.

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) officially canceled the campus debate originally scheduled for September 16th. The two campaigns opted to not participate and instead negotiated their own debates. That kept San Marcos from hosting the Republican and
Democratic nominees. Though President Trump and Vice President Harris weren’t at the podium, students like Kaylie Kruk were able to take their place, discussing issues and topics that affect not only the nation but also each student’s future.

“I think this is very important for participants, but also listeners, to be a part of something bigger then, especially in this election, and to share our voice and Gen Z’s voice,” Kruk said.

Student topics included those we saw the candidates debate throughout the campaign: abortion, climate change, and gun violence were all discussed.

First-year computer science major Caden Cooley was happy about the ability to take different sides. “I enjoyed the gun discussion,” Cooley said. “I thought it was more nuanced than I expected, and I thought a lot of people brought different perspectives.”

“I was certainly glad abortion got brought up,” said student Cayla Sims. “It’s a very passionate subject for me. I also enjoyed talking about climate change. It’s one of the things that has often been on my mind because of hurricanes. I think collectively, it is not something we think we can solve, but with effort, we can.”

Students weren’t just panelists. Senior Annabelle Elliot, who is studying journalism, including TV news, stepped in to moderate. She talked about how important this town hall was.

“Events likes these especially being held on college campuses are super important,” Elliott said. “Especially in the upcoming election al lot of time young people do not feel welcome in the conversation and i have also herd young people say they feel like they know enough to talk about it.”

“It’s stuff like this to get the word out to get people to take action that eventually leads to change,” Cooley said.

The town hall managed, at least for one night, to keep students engaged in politics, even after the debate got canceled.