c/o Rose Margolies

The Frank Center for Public Affairs (PAC), the Government Department, and the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life hosted a watch party for the first presidential debate on ABC between former Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, Sept. 10, the two major candidates for President of the United States. This was the second presidential debate of this election cycle and the first since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris in July 2024. 

The event was hosted in the Frank Center Forum with refreshments for attendees. It began at 8:30 p.m. with a discussion before the debate itself from Associate Professor of Government Logan Dancey and Assistant Professor of Government Justin Peck.

“The government professors that spoke initiated the event and saw it as an opportunity to talk about contemporary government and connect it with themes discussed in class, especially in the American politics courses,” Government Majors Committee member Sumreen Moughal ’25 wrote in a message to The Argus. “Many courses allude to how democracy is being threatened and the impacts of polarization on dictating how our government system is functioning, and this debate was the perfect opportunity to connect the concepts and see it play out.” 

Although the livestream began a few minutes late due to technical issues, the debate was screened in the packed main lobby of PAC. Although only 53 students had RSVP’d to attend the event, the Government Department was surprised to see an estimated turnout of over 110 students. Other rooms in the building were filled with smaller watch parties. 

“We thought the turnout would not be that huge,” Moughal wrote. “But it was super awesome to put the event together and see so many people come together to watch history in the making.”

Because of the surge in attendance, some students opted to return to their dorms and watch the livestream there. Additionally, the issues that initially affected the livestream drew some attention from the campus community.

Students made light of the audio and visual issues during the first few minutes of the livestream, including an Instagram post from University humor magazine The John Wesley Methodist Charter (The John) with the headline, “Gov Faculty Take Strong Political Stance by Updating Computer in Middle of Debate Screening.”

“The debate is five minutes in; it [the livestream] hasn’t started, so I took out my phone and was watching the debate on my phone, and at the same time I was like, ‘Oh shit, I have to post for The John; this is such a good moment,’” The John member John Earling ’27 said. “We had a very mature conversation about it with other members of The John, and I am happy with our final headline.”  

Other students watched TikTok live streams of the debate, playing the audio through a speaker as they waited for the Government Department screening to work. 

Students took advantage of the event as a space for political activism. New student group Wesleyan for Harris passed out flyers and spoke with attendees at the event. Luca D’Agruma ’27, a member of the group, brought 25 flyers to the watch party to pass out. 

“By the end of the night, we ran out of flyers, and dozens of people had signed up to get involved,” D’Agruma wrote in a message to The Argus. “It was very overwhelming, but gratifying to see the Wesleyan community out in full force. It is clear that students care deeply about the world and want to see it get better, not worse.”

Students also hosted watch parties in their dorms and houses for friends to watch the debate together. Many students found comfort in watching the debate with peers.

“Watching the debate with others felt significant, especially given the current state of politics, which has been tumultuous and dystopian,” Lily Turner ’27, who hosted her own watch party, said. “Having people around to share reactions in a genuine and human manner served as a reminder that feelings of fear, exhaustion, and hope are shared.”

Anabel Goode can be reached at agoode@wesleyan.edu.

Miles Craven can be reached at mcraven@wesleyan.edu.

Spencer Landers can be reached at sklanders@wesleyan.edu.