“The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore” is partway through its first season on Comedy Central. Wilmore, a former Daily Show correspondent, discusses current events before introducing a panel for further lively conversation. Like many other Comedy Central “fake news” shows, it casts light on the issues today in a humorous light.

Tuesday night’s show was notable especially for the appearance of a Georgetown undergraduate student on the panel. Emma Iannini (SFS ’16) appeared in order to discuss gun violence with Larry, managing editor of TheGrio.com Joy Reid, comedian/writer Bonnie Macfarlane and NYU student Megan Powers. Iannini, a resident of Sandy Hook, Connecticut, is the co-founder of Georgetown Against Gun Violence, and took part in the discussion regarding campus gun carrying.

https://www.hulu.com/watch/759994#i1,p4,d1

You can also check out the full segment here. It was both highly entertaining and informative. On the possible mix of alcohol and guns on campus, Powers admitted it was “not ideal”. Iannini made the excellent point that Georgetown was not going to ban alcohol, as “there would be a serious protest from our student body… Adding guns into the mix on college campuses, you take what’s already an unstable recipe and transform it into a potentially deadly one.”

4E reached out to Iannini on her experience, and she stated:

“First of all, I am very grateful to Larry and his team at the Nightly Show for talking about this very important issue. Comedy Central has become a cultural phenomenon in recent years and it provides a great platform for raising awareness, especially amongst young people who have a lot at stake when it comes to campus carry and gun violence more generally. It is so vitally important that our generation engage with this issue.

Unfortunately, as college students, whether we like it or not, we are on the front lines of the fight for gun safety in America. There have been over 100 school shootings since what happened in my hometown of Sandy Hook two years ago. Gun violence has just taken over automobile accidents as the leading cause of death amongst people ages 18-35. It’s up to young people to stand up and say no more. I think that’s why the folks at Comedy Central gave us the opportunity to talk about the important work that Georgetown Against Gun Violence is doing at the Hilltop. They know how much we have to lose if we continue to do nothing to stop this epidemic.

As I think people see in the episode, the panel really had a blast working together. Right off the bat, Bonnie and Joy established this great energy and we all really just fed off of that. My co-panelist, Megan Powers, from NYU College Republicans, also was such a good sport in taking a lot of hits from the rest of us. It’s hard to be outnumbered 4-1 and she handled it so professionally. Joy Reid, of course, is such a pleasure to work with as well. So kind and warmhearted, she set me at ease right away. She just has such a nice way about her.”

Thanks, Emma! So to the list of “impressive accomplishments made by Hoyas our own age,” we can now add “appeared on a Comedy Central show as a news panel member.”

(This post has been updated.)

Photo: Twitter