Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, will be coming to DePauw University this Thursday, Dec. 8.
Cameron will speak as a part of the Timothy and Sharon Ubben Lecture series. The lecture is titled “The Historic Events of 2016 and Where We go from Here.”
With the visit of David Cameron, many groups in the DePauw community have been promoting the event. Amongst these organizations are DePauw’s College Republicans and College Democrats. Both clubs feel the lecture is important and have heavily promoted and encouraged attendance.
“I’m very excited. It's a bipartisan event,” said head of College Democrats Tabitha Adams. “It’s important to hear from a powerful person.”
Some students interested in politics hope to learn something new from his lecture. “He was important in changing the conservative party in England,” Adams said. “As our country changes, our parties need to change with the times.”
Cameron’s visit also prompts conversations on topics such as globalization and immigration. Both matters were debated leading up to the referendum in July that resulted in the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union, a move that has come to be known as Brexit. Brexit prompted Cameron’s resignation as Prime Minister in July.
“I think that at this current moment in time, it’ll be fascinating to hear his thoughts on what happens now because we’ve seen a similar type of move here in the United States,” said sophomore political science major, Tanner Walsh. “Many people that voted for Brexit wanted more restrictions on globalization and immigration which many of the Trump voters want as well.”
Many students, like sophomore Andrew Cochrane, hope to attend Cameron’s lecture to learn more about Brexit and his stance on the issue. “I’m very excited and intrigued,” Cochrane said. “I wanna hear him talk about Brexit and his views on international politics.”
Head of College Republicans, sophomore Anna Cron also hopes to hear from Cameron concerning his views on Brexit, but more importantly on how Brexit affects the United States. “I’m specifically focused on the American government and Brexit,” Cron said. “How Brexit will impact the U.S..”
Cameron’s speech at DePauw will be one of his first public appearances since his resignation as Prime minister, and his first public speech. “I hope College Republicans and College Democrats will go,” Cron said. “New perspectives are always extremely helpful.”
Cameron’s lecture will be followed by questions from the leaders of DePauw’s student media outlets; WGRE, The DePauw and D3TV.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity that we three get,” said senior Megan Warner, the WGRE station manager. Wagner encouraged her peers to submit questions for Cameron. Students can submit questions to be read at UbbenQuestions@depauw.edu.
Unlike recent Ubben lectures, the event will be held in Neal Fieldhouse and will occur in the early afternoon. Doors open for students at 2:00 p.m. and close at 4:15 p.m.. Cameron will begin his speech at 4:30 p.m..
