“Journalism and Politics in the Pelican State” is Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 4 p.m. in Wyly Auditorium on the Louisiana Tech campus. Featuring five of the state’s leading political journalists, the event is produced by The Waggonner Center for Civic Engagement and Public Policy at Louisiana Tech, whose principal focus is to educate, inform, and inspire students to become more engaged in our democracy. The participating journalists are Greg Hilburn of The News Star and USA Today; Jeremy Alford of LaPolitics.com; Elizabeth Crisp of The Advocate, Melinda Deslatte of the Associated Press, and Julia O’Donoghue of The Times-Picayune. The event promises to be a timely discussion on the first two years of the John Bel Edwards administration. The journalists will share their thoughts about the next two years, the upcoming legislative session, and how all this will most likely affect Louisiana’s citizens, especially its college-age population. The event is free and open to the public, and questions from the audience are both welcome and encouraged. “Louisiana Tech and the Waggonner Center are proud to host this fine event,” said Jeremy J. Mhire, director of The Waggonner Center and the Joe D. Waggonner Professor of Political Science at Tech.  “It is a privilege to hear and to learn from the thoughts of the state’s best journalists, and this panel offers an abundance of insights and reflections to students, faculty, staff, and the community alike. I very much encourage everyone to come and learn a bit more about the politics of our fascinating state.” For more information or an up-to-date calendar of events, email waggonnercenter@latech.edu, visit waggonnercenter.com, or follow on Twitter: @waggonnercenter. The Waggonner Center seeks to foster and promote active and responsible civic engagement through an interdisciplinary combination of academic research, innovative curricular initiatives, and community outreach. With its unique institutional design, the Waggonner Center brings together faculty from across Louisiana Tech University who take as their point of departure the intersection of American principles, institutions, and public policy, broadly understood. By working across traditional academic disciplines, the Waggonner Center aims to create an unprecendented academic experience that engages faculty, students, and community stakeholders alike. – Teddy Allen, teddy@latech.edu, 318-257-2090