CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The University of Northern Iowa’s Departments of History and Political Science welcome students and the community to a forum on “Congress, the President and the Balance of Power” as part of the Congress to Campus program.

The forum will take place on Monday, Oct. 23 at 5 p.m. in Seerley Hall, Room 115, and feature former U.S. House Representatives Major General (ret) William Enyart (D-IL) and Gil Gutknecht (R-MN). 

Gutknecht, a 1973 UNI alum, served from 1983 to 1994 in the Minnesota House of Representatives and from 1994 to 2006 in the U.S. House. Enyart served as Southern Illinois’ United States Congressman in the 113th Congress. He retired in January 2015.

The forum is part of a two-day visit for the Congress to Campus program. For more than 40 years, the Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC)’s flagship program has provided college students with a unique civic education by engaging them in honest dialogue with bipartisan teams of former members of Congress, congressional staff and American diplomats. These dialogues bring today’s issues to the forefront and showcase the benefits of healthy partisanship and civility within disagreement. 

Congress to Campus dialogues also provide students with unparalleled insight into careers in public service, including how to run for political office, managing work/life balance on Capitol Hill and the thrill of debating legislation on the House or Senate floor. Program participants consistently say these sessions gave them a newfound appreciation for the dignity and excitement of public service.  

Congress to Campus reaches thousands of college students each academic year. To date, sessions have been held on 165 campuses in 43 states and 5 countries. Funding to bring Congress to Campus to UNI is made possible by the late R. Gordon Hoxie, a 1940 UNI alum and founder of the Center for the Study of the Presidency.