Affordable health care stole the spotlight Tuesday at Northern Kentucky University’s Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagement Democracy Square Live Forum, bringing students and faculty together to discuss insurance, gaps in care and other high-conflict medical issues.
The event aimed to encourage healthy conversation centered on health care affordability and insurance in the Tri-State, and comparisons of care in the United States with that of other countries.
Shauna Reilly, the assistant vice provost for outreach and engagement at the Scripps Howard Center, said that creating spaces for civic conversations is essential for development both outside and within university settings.
“The Scripps Howard Center is helping to foster dialogue and bring people together over various topics, and just engage them in conversation. There’s no conflict. Everybody’s respectful of one another. It’s more about engaging in a place that’s secure and supportive for folks to feel like they can actually express their perspectives, but also to hear from others,” Reilly said.
Organizers say the event’s forum is designed to reflect a healthy way to navigate civic issues, beginning with presentations to drive education and connection, ending with dialogue and reflection.
Democracy Square Live was mediated by Zachary Hart, head of the health communication and public relations program, who said the event is more than debate; it is an opportunity to connect and share personal links to the issues
“Do you think about health insurance?” Hart asked student and faculty attendees.
A resounding yes was heard across the room.
Attendees expressed concern about healthcare costs for themselves, the lack of coverage, and recent changes to Medicare and Medicaid for their families, and debated whether to go uninsured to afford expensive medical procedures.
Scripps Howard Center intern Thanh Tran said coming to events that support civic engagement and literacy as a student holds importance.
“There’s not many places where you can just get together and talk about local community issues. So having events like Democracy Square, Six at Six, and NKY forum— people can just get together and talk about things that no one brings up,” Tran said.
Attendees were prompted to choose from three options to provide potential solutions to healthcare in the U.S., and tasked with debating them. Opinions varied on how to best navigate the healthcare system, with clear differences depending on personal experience.
“I think one of the purposes of these events is for people to talk about how these issues affect them personally, and we definitely got that today,” said Hart. “When talking about these issues, you know, we think of them on this big national level, but they have very direct personal effects on us, and having a forum like this allows us to be able to share those stories.”
But events like these are designed not only to promote engagement on campus but also to highlight the importance of developing skills to navigate civic discussions in professional settings.
“A lot of employers are looking for folks who can talk to one another and can engage in conversation, both in the workplace but also in the break room, that isn’t going to lead to conflict. I think there’s those skills that we can hone here that help beyond the classroom, but also into the community and society,” Reilly said.
Democracy Square Live shows how the partnership between NKU and The Scripps Howard Center aims to tackle civic conversations through education and advocacy work at the university level.
“In today’s world, it’s really hard to discuss topics, issues of this kind, in a balanced, fair manner. Part of the goal of something like this is talking about these issues and really thinking about what are solutions to some of these problems,” said Hart. “I think starting at a local level is the way to kind of start changing that a bit and allowing us to really be able to talk to each other, to come up with solutions to some really important issues, you know, these aren’t easily solved things at all.”
Scripps Howard Center is hosting two additional Democracy Square Live events during the spring 2026 semester on March 4 and April 8 in the Student Union.