Students can have their questions about major political issues answered by a panel at “One Year After the Election: The Trump Timeline” at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the University Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

This panel will be hosted by the University Board’s Ideas and Issues committee.

The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. to give those in attendance time to walk around and look at different posters of ten specific events throughout the past year.

Tess McArthy, Ideas and Issues Coordinator for the University Board, said this will help students get some potential talking points in mind.

“Students are going to have the ability to write down their questions on blank notecards based off the topics either we’ve chosen already or a topic they want to bring up,” McArthy said.

“Then, we take the questions and we’ll organize them by topic in order of what we want to be brought up.”

Political science professor Kevin Anderson and Charleston City Council member Dennis Malak will answer any questions students have at the panel.

Student Body President Luke Young will serve as a moderator, taking the questions and reading them to the panelists.

McArthy said the decision to have students write down their questions was to keep the event civil.  The UB chose the panel format to allow students to ask any questions they have without feeling stupid.

“You want them to learn without feeling humiliation or shame,” McArthy said.

McArthy said helping people become informed citizens is one of the main goals of this panel.

Being better-informed leads to better decision-making, she said.

“There has been such an increase in political activism, especially on this campus, but not a lot of knowledge about what these big events, like the repeal of DACA or Obamacare and things like that, what they actually mean,” McArthy said.

Katie Caulkins, peer adviser for the UB Ideas and Issues committee, said the panel goes beyond just being relevant when looking at the bigger picture.

“It’s also very relevant to the college community as well as being something very topical,” Caulkins said. “Hopefully, the way that we’ve done it, it’s not one-sided. It gets to explore both sides so it really is good for everyone on campus.”

Because of the whirlwind of political activity that has happened in the past year, it is an interesting time to take a look at what has been done differently, Caulkins said.

“Many things which President (Donald) Trump has done have been different than other presidents, especially with his tweeting and kind of keeping in contact with the United States in that avenue,” Caulkins said. “So, this really makes him a unique president to look at, especially with policies and how he has handled the presidency.” Caulkins said the committee has been tabling to get questions ahead of time to help gear the topics toward what college students want to hear about.

She said she is excited to be able to watch the  panel discussion develop.

“My highest hope for this event is to just really have a great conversation about what is going on in our country right now and to do it civilly in a way that anybody can learn from it, can maybe gain a new perspective,” she said. “Whether they agree or disagree, I think it’s important for them to see where other people are coming from.”

Chrissy Miller can be reached at 581-2812 or clmiller9@eiu.edu.