Senior Ryan Lee, co-founder and co-president of the Socio-Political Discussion Club, said his interest in politics pushed his decision to start a club that embodied student discussion.

“I’m interested in politics, and I think that the club is a really good way to talk about social issues and political issues with friends and your community, and just to see where the community is at.” Lee said.

After the presidential election of 2016, Lee said he thought it would be a good time to start the Socio-Political Discussion Club.

“I thought (the club) would really important and interesting after the Trump election last year, because there was a big divide in our country and our communities, politically and socially, so Eli and I started the club so students could civilly discuss with one another about issues we otherwise wouldn’t talk about.” Lee said.

Club adviser Scott Miller said he believes the club is important so students can hear a variety of opinions on current events.

“I think that there’s more and more discussion about how news media is slanted to one particular position on the political spectrum so you either can listen to conservative media or liberal media.” Miller said.

Miller said he appreciates that the club showcases all viewpoints, allowing for opinions to be both formed and challenged.

“What I like about what the kids are doing is they’re taking an issue and they’re having a discussion so even though they tend to maybe argue from one perspective there are other voices that are heard so the kids have a chance to hear both sides,” Miller said. “Hopefully they can come up with their own ideas about how they feel on a particular issue or topic.”

Lee said that the Socio-Political Discussion Club mostly talks about current events at its meetings.

“We talk about current events, some local, a lot of national, basically whatever has been going on for the past two weeks is fair game,” Lee said. “At our last meeting we talked about Net Neutrality, Patagonia suing trump, and some other stuff.”

Senior Ben Provost said that he enjoyed discussing current events and hearing other students’ thoughts, as well as being able to speak his mind.

“We discussed DACA, as well as talking a lot about Trump’s new policies, and it’s been really interesting to hear other people’s opinions, as well as being able to represent my own.” Provost said.

Lee said he and the co-founder, Eli Curran-Moore, created the club to help different communities come together and find common ground.

“We made the club so students could find common ground with one another, and begin to understand themselves, their opinions, and their communities,” Lee said. “The club is so students can have a place to discuss events, or anything.”

Lee said the goals of the club are to increase attendance, and to have a variety of opinions be represented at meetings.

“We really want to expand, the more people, the better,” Lee said. “Obviously we don’t have any rules about where you’re supposed to be on the political spectrum, and we want to expose people to as many different opinions as possible.”

Provost said he believed Lee was doing a good job as president, showing his leadership during discussions.

“Ryan shows his leadership skills by keeping the club fun and enjoyable, but maintains control by keeping the discussion on track.” Provost said.

Miller said the club benefits from the strong student leadership.

“I enjoy Ryan a lot, actually everybody is really nice in there. I think for kids to kind of have the gumption and the interest to forming a club and organizing it on their own. Eli’s done a lot, and those guys kind of have taken it upon themselves and taken responsibility and I think that’s great.” Miller said.

According to Lee, students can join the Facebook group ‘SLP Socio-Political Discussion Club’ for information about upcoming meeting dates and other information. The Socio-Political Club meets on a bi-monthly basis, and the next meeting is at 3:15 p.m. on Jan. 10 in C357.