Audy Leggere-Hickey, a student at Front Range Community College, has been selected to be a delegate to College Debate 2016, a national effort to make issues important to students a focus in the upcoming presidential debates and increase student participation in the political process.
Leggere-Hickey will join 125 delegates from colleges and universities across the country in June at Dominican University in San Rafael, Calif. They will learn how to organize issue-focused events at their colleges and to use social media to encourage students to share their perspectives.
Audy Leggere-Hickey
The delegates return to Dominican in September for the 2016 College Convention, which will provide a forum for focused discussion on these national issues. The convention culminates with a 90-minute moderated town hall meeting that will be streamed live to delegates’ home campuses. This also will produce a memo for the moderators of the presidential debates targeting the key issues these college delegates want the candidates to address.
Dominican is a Voter Education Partner of the Commission on Presidential Debates, the independent, non-partisan organization that sponsors the presidential and vice-presidential debates. It has sponsored every debate since 1988.
Leggere-Hickey is on track to graduate in December from FRCC with an associate of arts degree with designation in political science.
A student leader, Leggere-Hickey received the Outstanding Club Member Award this semester and is a member of the National Society for Leadership and Success, Phi Theta Kappa, which both honor academic achievement; Student Corp., the campus business club; the International Affairs Club, and Student Government. In the community, she serves as chair of House District 13 (which encompasses five counties from southern and western Boulder County, west and north through Gilpin, Clear Creek, Grand and Jackson counties) for the state Democratic Party as well as serving on the board of directors for the United Nations Association of Boulder County.
“My goal is to bring to the political process issues students face,” Leggere-Hickey said. “I want to help students understand they do have a valuable voice. This is a non-partisan project and that is important to me. Since returning to school, I have learned that my opinions are not set in stone. And that when I listen, I can change my views.”
The other Colorado delegate to College Debate 2016 is Naomi Tsai, a student at Colorado College.
The debate schedule:
- Sept. 26: Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y
- Oct. 4: Longwood University, Farmville, Va. (vice-presidential debate)
- Oct. 9: Washington University of St. Louis
- Oct. 19: University of Nevada-Las Vegas
About Front Range Community College
FRCC offers nearly 100 degree and certificate programs from locations in Boulder County, Larimer County, Westminster, and Brighton, and online.
FRCC is a member of the Colorado Community College System (CCCS), the state’s largest system of higher education, with 13 colleges across Colorado serving more than 151,000 students annually. CCCS is a vital statewide pathway to individual achievement and economic vitality. Further, CCCS institutions provide an accessible, responsive learning environment that facilitates the achievement of educational, professional, and personal goals by our students and other members of our communities, and each fosters an atmosphere that embraces academic excellence, diversity, and innovation.
