By Luca Filigenzi, Staff Writer

The Philosophy, Politics and the Public (PPP) Honors Program sponsored a threeday trip to the Iowa Caucus in Des Moines, Iowa last weekend. On the trip, the group made several stops on the campaign trail, seeing candidates such as Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former governor of South Carolina Nicki Haley, former governor of Arkansas Asa Hutchinson and Vivek Ramaswamy. With temperatures in Iowa as low as -20 degrees Fahrenheit, the fiery political debates, events and discussions helped keep the students warm. The first event of the trip for students was attending a DeSantis rally. Junior political science major Alfreddo Ferguson believed DeSantis “was definitely aiming for an older generation.” After a quick respite at the BY LUCA FILIGENzI Staff Writer Xavier students met with candidates, reporters and journalists at 2024 Iowa caucus Newswire photo courtesy of Alyssa Blandford XU Students Brave Icy Iowa Caucus hotel and a night of good sleep, some bad news hit the PPP people

On Friday, the storm grew more severe, and some of the scheduled plans were canceled in favor of holding up and waiting out the storm, including Haley and former president Donald Trump rallies. “I thought I was coming here to witness a historic Iowa caucus, and in the midst of one historic event, another shows up in the form of a record setting blizzard,” senior political science major Cole Waymeyer said. Later that night, the group visited a Ramaswamy event, in which protestors appeared within the crowd and began to yell questions at him. The protestors were asked to leave but began to beat on the windows from the outside.

Braving the sub zero windchill, the group drove for two hours to attend the Haley event at the Second State Brewing Company in Cedar Falls. Junior PPP major Mak Krivka thought the event was particularly insightful. “Ambassador Haley’s event was great. She spoke clearly about the important things she wants to get done as president. While other candidates focused on what they were against, she spoke about what she was for,” Krivka said. The group returned to Xavier last Sunday. Sophomore PPP and political science double major Jake Galvan was grateful for the experience. “I was expecting very little interaction. I thought I’d be lucky to see them or get a picture… Expectations were greatly exceeded. I shook hands and took photos with all four candidates we saw,” Galvan said. First-year PPP major Megan Cooper felt the event was a great opportunity for her future and discerning her career path. “I think it’s a great experience for grassroots politics, since this is the start of the 2024 presidential cycle. Something I can use in my future career,” Cooper concluded. “Part of the program that I liked most was students getting to meet other students who they did not konw and finding out what they had in common as they participated in a part of political history,” Xavier professor and interim Director of the PPP program Dr. Mariani said. The caucus concluded with Trump winning a 51% majority vote. DeSantis followed Trump with Nikki Haley garnering a 19% vote. The New Tork Times published an article detailing the events of the caucus. This included a photograph and caption calling attention to Xavier University and the students in attendance.