MISSOULA — The first Democracy Summit at the University of Montana is underway in Missoula with topics ranging from local and campus politics to Indigenous governance.
The focus of the summit isn't just democracy itself, but democracy education with everyone from community members to Indigenous leaders participating in a variety of panels across the campus.
Participants at some of the panels were asked to imagine how democracy would work for everyone...and how that could be accomplished.
ASUM student body president Maggie Bell says this was the first Democracy Summit hosted at UM and it allowed students to learn about democracy, which she says is an important value to instill in them before they graduate.
“I think democracy is such an important principle for us we move forward into voting and being active members of our community outside of college so seeing the university value that and hosting a free event for us is really cool,” Bell said.
Although it was the first year for the event, Bell said that she was impressed by the turnout by the students.
"I'm really excited that they're hosting it. I wasn't really sure what to expect as far as attendance and different sessions but I have been blown away by how many people have been at the sessions so far and the variety of sessions that there are, it's been a really great turnout," Bell said.
When asked what her message to the community about the summit is, Bell went back to the values of the community.
"I would say UM's got a lot of really, really, really great things going for it. Every student here is satisfied and learning so much. And we have a lot of really great community values and democracy is one of them. And that shows today through the Democracy Summit," said Bell.
