Debate event to ‘bridge’ gap between students

By Benjamin Shinault

Beginning on Feb. 26, Rider will introduce its newest form of student entertainment with a campus debate. The inaugural debate will be on a topic close to many Rider students’ hearts: pork roll or Taylor ham?

The idea was sparked by Rider Provost DonnaJean Fredeen with assistance from Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, and associate professor of political science Olivia Newman.

“Micah Rasmussen has been a really great partner in this,” Fredeen said. “I’ve been talking about wanting to do something like this for two years now.”

Fredeen’s original idea was quickly shot down by Rasmussen.

“My idea was Texas chili, beans or no beans, but we quickly came to the conclusion that nobody up here cares,” Fredeen said with a chuckle, “but he came up with pork roll versus Taylor ham, which I love.”

Rider had a similar, debate-style event in 2017 when former Director of the Rebovich Institute Ben Dworkin hosted a debate centered around whether the eagle or the turkey should be the national bird.

To many people, a debate over whether it’s called Taylor ham or pork roll is high stakes, but Fredeen is hoping that a debate like this could serve as a stepping stone to debates of a more serious nature.

“What I am hoping is that we can hold some events afterwards that get more to this idea of what are some controversial topics that are in the news today,” Fredeen said.

In order for Rider to transition into debating and having tough conversations about political topics, an assisting hand would be useful.

“There is an organization out there called Bridge[USA] that we could actually become members of that will help you have these conversations,” Fredeen said. “The whole idea of the Bridge organization is how can you start to begin to see how their is some kind of common ground, and I think that is very important for our country at this point and I also think it’s something that we as as an institution of higher education that we have an obligation to actually try to promote.” 

Over 80 colleges and universities across the nation are enrolled in BridgeUSA. Their website’s mission statement is to “empower young people to engage in constructive dialogue and disagreement to improve the quality of politics.”

“[BridgeUSA] allowed for a space for people to present their viewpoints and go back-and-forth in their discussions about presenting their perspectives without it being emotional and turning into a shouting match,” Fredeen said. 

Starting with having debates over whether it’s Taylor ham or pork roll, will hopefully transition into Rider’s ability to host respectful debates and conversations among students.

The Broncs Decide event will take place in room 202 of Lynch Adler Hall on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. Students who attend the event will not only take in a fun yet serious debate, but will also be served Taylor ham sliders and pork roll sliders.

“We’re going to have a lot of fun Wednesday night, we’re going to have a good turnout, people can eat either Taylor ham slider or their pork roll slider,” Fredeen said.

Students taking part in the debate will be matched up with a Rider faculty member to craft the perfect argument for their case.

Fredeen, being from Texas, does not have a strong opinion on whether it is pork roll or Taylor ham.

“I have no dog in this fight,” Fredeen said, “I am not certain what I think it should be called, but I guess we are in Central Jersey, and my understanding is that it’s pork roll country.”