Partisan student groups co-host State of the Union watch party

Last night, more than 150 enthusiastic Penn students and community members packed into Huntsman Hall to view President Barack Obama’s second State of the Union address as part of a joint event hosted by the Penn Democrats and Penn College Republicans.

The ratio of students in attendance who self-identified as Democrats to those who identified as Republicans was approximately 3-to-1, according to Penn Dems Vice President and College sophomore Jake Shuster. Not every student chose to declare which party they associate with, however, and community members did not sign in.

Penn Dems President and College sophomore Isabel Friedman began by stating that the watch party was an “opportunity for us to change how we talk about politics at this university.” The watch party was the first time the new 2011 Penn Dems and the standing College Republicans executive boards have hosted an event together, she said.

Because of the high attendance, some 20 students — due to fire marshal regulations — had to view the speech in the MBA Cafe outside the official watch party room. Local news stations NBC, CBS and KYW also turned up to gauge opinion on the event, though lack of the necessary building permits forced the former two to leave.

Inside the buzzing Huntsman room, students laughed and applauded during several parts of the President’s speech, which focused on innovation, energy, education and lowering the deficit.

Following the speech, about 40 members of the original audience stuck around to discuss the speech.

The conversation began with the students contemplating how realistic they felt the President’s goals were.

As certain issues arose, the Penn Dems and College Republicans members butted heads.

“The discussion afterwards was heated, but I think that’s fine,” College Republicans president and Engineering junior Peter Terpeluk said.

The dialogue ended on a note of optimism for future bipartisan campus events, with both Friedman and Terpeluk expressing satisfaction with the event.

“It was a true testament to the work of the Penn Democrats and College Republicans and the work we will be doing together in the future,” Friedman said.

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