A candidate’s forum featuring live debates between candidates running for Principal Chief and Deputy Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, June 6, at Rogers State University.
The public is invited to attend the forum in the Performance Studio of Baird Hall on the RSU campus in Claremore, or view the event live on RSU Public Television. Dr. Hugh Foley, RSU professor of fine arts and Native American Studies coordinator, will serve as moderator. The public is requested to be seated no later than 6:45 p.m.
Rogers State University, RSU Public Television, the RSU Department of Communications, the Claremore Daily Progress, Cherokee Data Solutions and the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma are partnering to bring the forum to Green Country, said Dan Schiedel, general manager of RSU Public Television.
The forum will feature a debate between Chief Chad Smith, the incumbent, and challenger Bill John Baker for Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. That debate will be followed by an exchange between candidates running for Deputy Principal Chief, including S. Joe Crittenden, Callie Hathcoat, Chris Soap and Raymond Vann, at approximately 7:30 p.m.
In addition, a debate will be held between the two at-large candidates, Julia Coates and John William Cornsilk, at approximately 8:30 p.m. This debate will not be broadcast but will be streamed through RSU Public TV’s website, www.rsupublictv.org.
The forum will be repeated on RSU Public Television at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 12; 11 p.m. Tuesday, June 21; and 7 p.m. Friday, June 24. The election is on Saturday, June 25.
RSU Public Television is licensed to Rogers State University and is the only public television station operated by a university in Oklahoma. The station, based on the RSU campus in Claremore, reaches more than one million people within a 75-mile radius of the campus. RSU Public Television broadcasts on digital channel 35.1 and 35.2, Tulsa and Claremore cable channel 19, Cable Channel 4 in Bartlesville and satellite channel 35 across northeastern Oklahoma.
For more information about RSU Public Television visit www.rsupublictv.org.