Bob Graham Center for Public Service to host student roundtable

April 20, 2011

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida will host a unique forum for 13 students at 3 p.m. today, April 20, to discuss some of the nation’s most pressing domestic and foreign issues.

This private event will be held at 3 p.m. in the Pugh Hall Ocora but will be streamed live on the Bob Graham Center’s website, www.bobgrahamcenter.ufl.edu.

The program, part of the White House’s new 100 Youth Roundtables initiative, will be moderated by Kalpen Modi, an accomplished film and TV actor known as Kal Penn who now serves as the associate director of public engagement at the White House. Former Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., will also be in attendance.

The 100 Youth Roundtables, announced by President Obama in March, is a three-month initiative featuring discussion groups among youths from all backgrounds around the nation. Administration officials are scheduled to participate in the roundtables around the nation until May 31.

“We are so interested in getting your ideas, your input, your energy,” Obama told a group of youths last month while announcing the initiative. “Not only in helping us with the challenges we face at the federal level, but with what’s happening locally… This is about your future, your solutions.”

At 4:30 p.m. following the conclusion of the roundtable discussion, the Bob Graham Center will open its doors to all UF students interested in joining Kal Penn and roundtable participants for President Obama’s Facebook Town Hall Watch Party. It is expected that President Obama will field a question from the Bob Graham Center. Modi will be facilitating a Q&A session after the town hall event.

The roundtable discussion and subsequent watch party were organized by UF White House Youth Roundtable Coordinators Cesar Fernandez and Elesa Rectanus with the cooperation of the Bob Graham Center for Public Service.