Eliyahu Gasson | editor-in-chief

Former Vice President Mike Pence will visit campus on Nov. 6 for the next installment of the Civil Discourse Series held annually at Duquesne.

Pence will sit on a panel with the Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives, Margaret Kibben, and Former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty at noon in the Power Center Ballroom to discuss “Faith, Civility and Public Service” hosted by Duquesne President Ken Gormley.

“I was surprised when I heard that,” Anthony Wachs, associate professor of communications & rhetoric at Duquesne said. “I think Duquesne has a general propensity to try to avoid what could be seen as divisive … but I’m happy to see him on campus because I think it’s a good extension of the president’s focus on civic discourse and developing empathy.”

Last year The Duke reported that Duquesne saw fewer political speakers on campus than other Pittsburgh campuses including the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University leading up to the 2024 presidential election. The reason was outlined in The Administrative Policies 27, which says individuals or groups cannot campaign or use university resources for partisan activity in order for Duquesne to maintain its status as a 501(c)(3) non profit.

However, the university is able to host political speakers if they are not actively campaigning.

The upcoming Civil Discourse Series on faith and leadership will not be the first time Duquesne has hosted political figures, according to Gormley. He said he has invited prominent political figures since he came to Duquesne in 1994, including then former-Vice President Joe Biden, who served as keynote speaker for an event honoring Duquesne alumnus Dan Rooney in 2018.

Gormley said that there is often criticism toward the university when they announce political figures coming to campus. But, he said, there have not been issues in the past, and he doesn’t expect there to be this time.

“In each case they’ve been wonderful programs, and the whole point is, it’s important to hear from people of different views and listen respectfully and to try to understand different perspectives,” he said.

Jonathan Collins, president of the College Republicans at Duquesne, said he expects the panel discussion to be a non-partisan event.

“I looked into it and saw that they talked about the synagogue shooting last year. So, basing it off of that I see it’s essentially just a place where people from all sides of the political spectrum can come together and converse about controversial topics or issues of the age,” he said.

Collins said he is excited to have political figures on campus, especially a former vice president.

“A lot of [political figures] will go to Pitt or CMU or something like that, so I think that it’s very wonderful for the university, the student body as a whole, to have figures like this come to Duquesne,” he said.
Riley Hunter, president of a local chapter of the College Democrats, also said she thinks an appearance by Pence is good for the university.

“Obviously I disagree with Mike Pence and his views, but there are a lot of things that I personally dislike and personally disagree with,” she said. “That doesn’t negate its right to happen and its right to be on campus for the students.”

The upcoming Civil Discourse event will only have 400-500 seats available on a first come, first serve basis. Attendees must register for the event in advance.

Eliyahu Gasson can be reached at gassone@duq.edu