Earlier last month during a Student Political Union meeting, a student stormed out of the intense debate. SPU talks about a wide variety of topics every week: “[In early February] we talked about Obama care, gun control, and the Olympics,” SPU president Lowell Naas said.

The topic that sparked the most debate amongst group members was the issue of Russia’s policies towards homosexuals. “We were talking about whether politics should be a part of the Olympics or not, and there was a general consensus that politics should not be a part of the Olympics,” Naas said. The debate got very heated, leading the student to leave the room.

Outbursts like these are not uncommon at SPU. “We are trying to work on that though. We have some ideas, like splitting the group up,” Naas said. But this intense debate is also one of the reasons people are drawn to the group: “Being able to argue with people about politics; that’s why I go,” Naas said.