Haley Dolosic, president of the Graduate Professional Council, wants graduate students to be engaged in the frenzy on campus leading up to Sunday’s presidential debate. (Photo: Joe Angeles/Washington University)
Haley Dolosic is teaching and working on her PhD in applied linguistics at WashU by day, and president of the Graduate Professional Council (GPC) by night. Or maybe it’s vice-versa — or both. Her days leading into the debate have been nonstop. And Dolosic, a native of Troy, Ill., wouldn’t have it any other way.
Among her presidential duties this year is co-chair of the Student Engagement in Presidential Debate committee, and these past months have been spent planning debate-related programming for graduate students.
Here, she offers three ways for graduate students to get in the game this weekend:
- The graduate student debate watch party in Holmes Lounge. “It’s a debate first for grad students,” Dolosic said. “It’s a chance for the graduate community at WashU to come together as a group to discuss the issues, engage in political conversation, and find common ground around politics no matter who you are supporting in the debate.”
- The Sunday afternoon debate fair. “That’s going to be a really unique space to engage students young and old, and just have fun in the process,” she said. “Debate fair-goers will experience activities from ice cream to ‘Rock’Em-Sock’Em’ robots to really substantive conversations.”
- A front-row media seat. “There will be so many opportunities for students to engage with the national media on campus,” she said. “A lot of famous faces will be on our campus. It’s a chance to learn firsthand about the campaign trail.”
Dolosic is in her third year as a graduate student on the Washington University campus. She’s happy to work overtime to bring the community together.
“When I came to campus, there was some graduate interaction and activities, but it was hard to find,” she said. “I’ve been doing my best to really communicate where those opportunities are.”