Immigration policy is topic for upcoming JANUS Forum on April 13
CNN commentator, former governor will speak at Armstrong Student Center
Immigration policy is topic for upcoming JANUS Forum on April 13
CNN commentator, former governor will speak at Armstrong Student Center
“The Evolving Landscape of Immigration Policy” begins at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Tickets are required and available through Miami’s online Box Office. A public reception will follow.
“As is always the case with the JANUS Forum, we’ve chosen a topic that people can reasonably have multiple points of view on,” said John Forren, executive director of Miami’s Menard Family Center for Democracy. “There will be two people who are very knowledgeable on this subject presenting different points of view on immigration and immigration policy.”
Allison was an administration campaign staffer for both President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden and is currently CEO and founder of Watering Hole Media as well as publisher of the Root, an online media outlet.
Along with her experience as governor of New Mexico, Martinez was a lawyer and prosecutor and chair of the Republican Governors Association.
Nate Novak, a junior Political Science major with a Business Leadership co-major, will serve as moderator.
Novak has worked on the past two JANUS Forum events, though this will be his first turn as moderator.
“It is very rewarding to be involved in the planning process,” Novak said. “You not only get the experience of planning a key event for the Political Science department, but you get to interact more closely with the speakers and on a personal basis with the department staff. Getting to make those connections is definitely a rewarding part of it.”
Being able to participate in respectful debate is a cornerstone of the Janus Forum.
“It’s very important to have events like this where real constructive dialogue takes place,” Novak said. “Just having a conversation on a topic like this in this setting is something we need now more than ever for college students.”
Offered twice each year, the JANUS Forum is sponsored by the Department of Political Science with the generous support of Thomas W. Smith ’50 and the Menard Family Center for Democracy. Patrick Haney, professor of Political Science and faculty advisor to the JANUS Forum, said, “We are very lucky to have had Mr. Smith’s support to bring high quality speakers around controversial topics to campus, to spend time with students, to argue differing points of view, but also to do so in the context of civil discourse. The students are always front and center at JANUS, and we are excited for our 26th forum.”
“This is ultimately the way that we move forward together in a democracy: To solve tough problems, people of good will must get together and have a full and respectful airing of competing views,” Forren said. “That kind of civil discourse is what the JANUS Forum is all about, and that is what makes the forum such a valuable part of Miami’s calendar of public events each semester. At this spring’s forum, audience members should expect that their own views on immigration will be challenged and their own points of view will be examined closely. That can be uncomfortable at times – but that is the nature of the vibrant ‘marketplace of ideas’ that the JANUS Forum is a key part of here at Miami.”