Furman to host panel discussion on “Future of SC Democratic Party” Tuesday, Nov. 8

NOVEMBER 4, 2011
by Katie Love ‘12, Media Relations

Dick Harpootlian

GREENVILLE, S.C.—South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian will be the keynote speaker at a panel discussion on the Furman University campus about “The Future of the SC Democratic Party.”

The discussion, which is free and open to the public, will be held Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. in Burgiss Theater of the University Center.   It is sponsored by the Furman College Democrats and Democratic Women of Greenville.

The panel discussion will focus on whether South Carolina is entering another era as a one-party state and how the Democratic Party can expand beyond what The State newspaper has called “an endangered species outside Richland County and the state’s rural, poor, and minority counties.”

Harpootlian will open the event by talking about the cultural significance of two-party competition.  Following his address, he will join a four-person panel discussion moderated by Furman political science professor Glen Halva-Neubauer.

The panel discussion will include former Greenville City Councilwoman and Judge Diane Smock, Greenville City Councilwoman Jil Littlejohn, and South Carolina Representative Boyd Brown (District 41).  The panel discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

For more information, contact Ben Saul, president of Furman College Democrats, at ben.saul@furman.edu or (864) 980-9942.