Beer, pizza, wings, and politics brought students and faculty together on Jan.28.
Students sat around high tables in Huden’s Spartan Room eating, drinking, and waiting for President Obama’s State of the Union Address to begin.
In other times, people used to gather in pubs to drink beer, listen to the president’s speeches, and debate politics, said Rich Clark, professor of political science at Castleton.     

That is the idea behind Pub Night at Castleton, to offer a venue for students to gather and experience politics in a way that can actually be entertaining.
The event, sponsored by The Stafford Center for Civic Engagement and the Castleton Polling Institute, even had its own hashtag on twitter.
Castleton is a member of the American Democracy Project, which created the hashtag so schools across the country could connect while watching the president’s speech, said Clark.   

Castleton SGA President, Timothy Macintosh says Pub night provided “something completely unique” to the students.
Macintosh would love to see even more involvement from students in political events like these.
Students everywhere seem to be involved and engaged already. The American Democracy hashtag had thousands of tweets from students all over the country who were actively watching the speech, and Castleton students seemed to be equally engaged.
There were and nods and murmurs of ascent when Obama discussed keeping jobs in the country and laughs when he promoted gender equality in the work place by referencing a Mad Men episode.
In addition to jobs and work place equality, Obama also touched on topics like investing in “fuels of the future,” ending the wars, closing Guantanamo Bay, and raising minimum wage.
These were just a few of the goals the president set for what he says will be a  “year of action.”
Students tossed back beers and mowed down pizza and wings while discussing the speech.
Business professor Ed Dansereau attended pub night in a completely “unofficial capacity.” He was just there for a good discussion and a good time like the rest of the students, his opinion of pub night?

“This is what America’s all about”