The Texas Tribune Festival is one of the nation’s largest political gatherings. The three-day festival, which ran from Thursday, Sept. 26 through Saturday, Sept. 28, brought Texans together to address international, national and local politics and policy. The 2019 festival’s opening keynote featured Republican Congressman Will Hurd of Texas’s 23^rd Congressional District and closed with a one-on-one discussion with Democratic Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.

Over the festival’s three days, Sumners scholars were among the approximately six thousand attendees who were able to select from hundreds of sessions and speakers, such as Betsy Price, Ted Cruz, Beto O'Rourke, Anthony Scaramucci and Julián Castro, and covering a vast array of issues and topics, including gun control, immigration, border and national security and the issue of impeachment. 

Read more of the Texas Tribune 2019 Festival highlights: Impeachment, 2020 and more.

Sumners scholars had several unique opportunities, including a lunch discussion with George F. Will, best-selling author and renowned columnist for The Washington Post and exclusive tickets to the premiere of Mr. Texas, a musical comedy about Texas politics. Finally, scholars were treated to an Annette Strauss Institute-sponsored “Lunch and Learn” with leaders from around the state. 

The festival is the featured fall semester activity for the Hatton W. Scholarship recipients at Texas Wesleyan. For more information about the Hatton W. Sumners Scholarship, visit txwes.edu/academics/sumners/.