The First Mondays event for Block 3 at Colorado College featured a debate in which members of the Colorado College debate team faced off against members of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s debate team.

The event, held Oct. 29, in the heat of the run-up to the presidential election, featured Colorado College sophomores Jacob Kirksey and Nick Blanchette arguing for the election of Gov. Mitt Romney. Air Force Academy cadets Andrew Gallion and Brian Kruchkow argued for the re-election of President Obama, who is their commander-in-chief.

The audience, which included members of local middle- and high-school debate teams, cheered when Kruchkow said he wished the actual presidential debate could be as cordial and civilized as the CC-AFA debate was. Following the debate, the Air Force cadets joined the CC debaters and other students for lunch in Rastall Hall, located in the CC student center.

The First Mondays series is a campus-wide forum that aims to engage all members of the CC community, including students, staff, administrators and faculty. The series creates opportunities for the entire community to gather, encouraging everyone to be part of the intellectual life of the college, and facilitating discourse among students, faculty and staff, across courses, disciplines and divisions.