On Friday morning at the DeVault Alumni Center six state legislators will gather to address local concerns and answer questions about the past and current Indiana state government in a forum.
This event will go from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Friday. The goal of the forum, which has been put on for 10 years, is to foster dialogue between legislators and citizens, J Thomas Forbes, chief executive officer of the IU Alumni Association, said.
“The people that attend hear authentic and spontaneous responses to the questions that they ask their represented officials,” Forbes said. “I always feel like democracy wins in these forums.”
The legislative forums originally started with the Hoosiers for Higher Education initiative, which was a grassroots effort of IU alumni looking to be more civically engaged in the work of the state legislature, said Allie Gardner, a graduate assistant of the group.
“It was created to represent the importance of higher education, and its impact on the state of Indiana,” Gardner said.
Though the focus of the group was originally on higher education, it has shifted to encourage civil engagement, Gardner said.
This week’s forum is sponsored by the Monroe County Chapter of the IU Alumni Association.
According to a press release from IU Newsroom anyone is welcome to attend.
RSVPs are encouraged because space in the DeVault Alumni Center is limited, Forbes said.
According to the press release, the state legislators in attendance will be Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford; Sen. Mark Stoops, D-Bloomington; Rep. Jeff Ellington, R-Bloomington; Rep. Chris May, R-Bedford; Rep. Peggy Mayfield, R-Martinsville; and Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington.
No federally elected officials will be in attendance.
Forbes wanted to emphasize that, though there may be increased participation in the political system from those coming to the event, the local officials will not be able to speak to the current national situation.
“This was planned months in advance of the current national situation,” he said.
Anne Bono will be moderating the forum.
Bono is the director of advocacy and public policy at the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce and was previously director of business development and scholarships with the IU Alumni Association.
The six legislators in attendance will be given time to introduce themselves and any bills they are sponsoring before Bono begins accepting written questions from the audience.
As the moderator, she will then choose which questions to ask the legislators, as well as asking some questions of her own, Gardner said.
The questions and forum will focus on state issues as much as possible, Gardner said.
“Each forum captures the interests at any given time,” Forbes said.
Both Forbes and Gardner stressed the importance of these forums in connecting legislators and people from the community, especially IU alumni.
“IU alumni are very interested in getting to hear from state legislators that affect them,” Gardner said. “It’s really important for legislators to meet with IU alumni in forums like this.”
