The School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership hosted Faculty Debate Night on Monday, which featured two professors from the school discussing whether the U.S. should repeal the Second Amendment.
Participants said the debate was an exercise in civil discourse and aimed to demonstrate that civil disagreement is possible. The professors' stances during the debate did not necessarily reflect their personal opinions.
SCETL Student Assembly Vice President Sophia Thomason, a senior studying civic and economic thought and leadership, opened the event by explaining the significance of the debate's format.
Thomason said the Lincoln-Douglas style was inspired by the famous series of debates in Illinois during the 1858 campaign for U.S. Senate between Democratic incumbent Stephen Douglas and Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln.
"The goal of this evening is not to determine who wins — rather it's to present two perspectives on an important constitutional question and to demonstrate how individuals can engage difficult questions in a manner that's both intellectually rigorous and respectful," Thomason said. "In other words, tonight is an opportunity to experience democracy at its best."
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Evan Lowe, one of the SCETL professors, opened the debate with a 20-minute speech where he defended the Second Amendment and argued for keeping it.
His argument centered on the Second Amendment as a fundamental right essential to individual liberty and collective self-defense. He cited both historical and current events in his rationale.
Aaron Kushner, the other professor, responded in a 30-minute rebuttal. He said the original meaning of the Second Amendment has been lost, and it must be repealed.
Kushner cited U.S. Supreme Court cases and historical documents to argue against keeping the Second Amendment. He also included statistics on the impact of gun regulation in his argument.
Lowe ended the debate in a 10-minute response, where he pushed back on Kushner's call for repeal.
Kushner said he and Lowe designed the debate using a shortened Lincoln-Douglas style.
"This debate was an exercise in civil discourse," Kushner said. "The idea was that we can debate anything."
The format, which had no moderator or Q&A section, allowed the professors to respond to each other's points in real time, Kushner said. That allowed them to model civil disagreement for students in attendance.
Kushner said the positions expressed in the debate didn't necessarily represent their own opinions or those of SCETL, and the topic was chosen randomly. The professors drew straws to decide who would argue for and against keeping the Second Amendment.
"I generally think that that's a good thing for students, to be able to see that whether it's your opinion or not, being able to make an argument on the basis of evidence that is persuasive is a useful skill to develop," Lowe said.
Many of the debates held for national office aren't really debates, Lowe said. Rather, they're attempts to use soundbites and gain political points without engaging in discussion about ideas or arguments.
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Kushner emphasized the importance of civil dialogue and debate.
"We hope we were able to demonstrate some very serious disagreement and how to basically bring a little heat, but without getting unpleasant," Kushner said.
Thomason said she appreciated the variety of perspectives and questions referenced during the debate.
She doesn't see many debate-style events held in the political science field and she had wanted to see a debate for a long time.
Thomason hopes this event will launch more debate-style events, both in SCETL and other schools, rather than the lecture style, which she feels is most common.
"It (the debate style) really gives the spotlight to the speakers and enables the audience to really ponder it," Thomason said.
Edited by Carsten Oyer, Jack McCarthy and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporter at swang496@asu.edu.
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Quinn is currently a first-year Barrett student studying Business Data Analytics & Supply Chain Management with a minor in fashion. She is the Professional Development Intern for ASU's DECA Chapter and a part of Phi Alpha Delta in addition to being a politics reporter at the State Press.
