St. Bonaventure University

Buffalo Toronto Public Media will broadcast a forum that features St. Bonaventure University faculty unpacking the issues in the presidential election.

The 90-minute program will air on WNED-TV, a PBS member television station in Buffalo, on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 5 p.m. and 88.7 FM WBFO Monday, Nov. 4, at 8 p.m.

“This program was a tremendous collaborative effort among students, faculty, staff and alumni,” said Aaron Chimbel, dean of the Jandoli School of Communication. “I am proud of the efforts of everyone involved to produce a timely and important discussion of the issues at stake in the election, and I appreciate our local public media making this engaging broadcast available to a wider audience.”

The forum, “Policy Palooza at SBU: How the Presidential Election Will Affect the Lives of Today’s College Students,” was recorded on Tuesday, Oct. 22, on the St. Bonaventure campus.

Jandoli School Professor Richard Lee, a former political reporter and press secretary, and student Sydney Labayewski, an SBU-TV news anchor and reporter, moderated the session. Panelists included several St. Bonaventure faculty members, as well as SBU alumnus Bob McCarthy, ’76, a veteran political reporter and analyst.

Lee and Jandoli School faculty member Scott Sackett worked as partners to develop and produce the program.

“Our goal was to bring together journalists, policy experts, students and the university community for insightful conversations,” Lee said.

Panelists discussed the economy, health care, foreign policy, immigration, cybersecurity and other issues. St. Bonaventure students staffed the production.

“I’ve heard from many of my students that they don’t follow news or politics, and I wondered whether giving them a safe space for civil discourse might change how they feel,” Sackett said. “I was inspired by ‘Firing Line,’ ‘The McLaughlin Group’ and ‘Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals’ — the current affairs programs I enjoyed watching when I was their age.”

The project was funded by the Jandoli School and by a grant from the Leo E. Keenan Jr. Faculty Development Endowment at St. Bonaventure.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #6 for value and #14 for innovation by U.S. News and World Report (2024).