Following the hard fought race for the White House, the spirit of the 2016 Election was reflected in political activities on campus. On Oct. 21, senior Katherine Cohen and junior Raymond Gatcliffe took the stage in Second Story Theater for the Prep’s first ever mock presidential debate. Cohen, portraying Clinton, and Gatcliffe, portraying Trump, discussed some of the issues that were the most important in the 2016 election for the social studies department’s Signature Event.

Social science teachers Manuel Santelices and Gabriel Medina moderated the debate, allowing each candidate to make their opening statement before asking them a series of policy questions. The main topics included immigration, the Second Amendment, health care, tax policy, Planned Parenthood, law and order, and the War on Terror. Similar to a real debate,

each candidate had a certain amount of time to make their case when a question was asked of them.

“Secretary Clinton is such an inspiration to me, and it was a huge honor to represent her in the debate. Raymond and I both worked very hard to present our candidates’ policies as

accurately as possible,” said Cohen.

True to Trump himself, throughout the debate Gatcliffe interrupted Cohen, with outbursts of “wrong” and “lies” when it was her turn to speak. The debate was held approximately week after the 2005 tapes of Trump making lewd remarks about women were released, which Cohen made a point of pressing Gatcliffe on. Cohen was also pressed on Clinton’s emails and Bill Clinton’s rape allegations.

Students seemed to like the spirited banter between the two.

“I appreciated how both candidates did a good job of discussing real issues and made the debate as realistic to the actual debates as possible,” said senior Kendall Nelson.

Although the election is over and Donald Trump has been named the new president elect, the election season gave students a unique chance to participate in the political process,

even if most are unable to vote. Aside from the debate, students also had the chance to participate in a mock election, voting for president and on five different policy issues.