SPECIAL FOCUS Let's Talk The American presidential elections offer an opportunity for dialogue and community engagement. It is that time again. The American presidential election season is upon us. This season is shaping up like few others, capturing the attention of Americans and international spectators alike. While the presidential campaigning was getting started, researchers from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) note in their 2015 study The American Freshman that 59.8 percent of respondents to their freshman survey 32 KNOWLEDGE DOMAINS TALKING STICK in this article by Virginia Koch and Paul Harris "think that they are very likely to vote in an election while in college." The authors also report that students "seem to be substantially more committed to political engagement, as 22.3% report influencing the political structure as a 'very important' or 'essential' life Resident Educational Services Create environments and programs which support student development. objective. Roughly four in 10 students (40.4%) also indicate that keeping up to date with political affairs represents a 'very important' or 'essential' objective." In April 2016, as campaign rhetoric grew more divisive, the Southern Poverty Law Center's report The Trump Effect stated that Trump's campaign was having a negative effect on younger students, "producing an alarming level of fear and anxiety among children of