Candidates and representatives from gubernatorial, U.S. Senate, FL Senate and FL House campaigns will present information about their platforms. Candidates attending include Angelo Capelli and Bill Heller who are candidates for the House District 52 seat. Reps. Charlie Justice and Kim Berfield, candidates for Senate District 16, and Rep. Gus Bilirakis, running in the Ninth Congressional District, will also attend. Students in the class must intern on a campaign, and the forum presents an opportunity for students across campus to learn more about the candidates and the issues dominating this election cycle.

“This is a great opportunity to hear from candidates about the issues. This is an extremely competitive gubernatorial race. Here in Tampa Bay we have arguably two of the toughest races in the state – one in the house and in the senate – and students on campus can hear directly from those candidates,” Scourfield McLauchlan said.

In addition, the USFSP Center for Civic Engagement, in conjunction with the Electoral Voice Initiative of the American Democracy Project, is organizing a campus-wide voter registration drive through Oct. 10. This project is part of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ initiative to register more than 40,000 students to vote nationwide. 

USF St. Petersburg aims to distinguish itself by its commitment to civic and community engagement and development of the “citizen scholar” model. The objective of citizen scholarship is to combine academic instruction with implementation of concepts learned in the classroom into the local community, including business, educational and social service agencies as well as the local labs faculty use to further their research agendas. 

For more information contact Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan at 727-873-4956 or jsm2@stpt.usf.edu.