As Hofstra University prepared to host the second presidential debate on its campus last week, the school mobilized more than 250 student volunteers to aid in planning the event. Three hundred students who submitted their names into a lottery also received tickets to attend.
Meanwhile, Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. offered about 80 courses this semester that focused on the 2012 election. In prepping for last night's presidential debate, the school sponsored a variety of debate-related lectures and activities for students.
The fact that many schools have hosted presidential and vice-presidential debates in the past several elections – and have sought extensive student involvement in the process – might leave some University students wondering: why doesn't Emory do the same?
The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a non-profit organization that sponsors and produces the presidential and vice-presidential debates, selects venues to host presidential debates during each election. Emory has never served as a presidential debate site, according to Vice President for Communications and Marketing Ron Sauder.
Two years prior to each presidential election, the CPD releases its site selection guidelines and application information, according to the CPD website. After receiving applications from venues – which typically include but are not limited to educational institutions – the CPD visits and assesses potential sites. The organization then announces the debate hosts about a year in advance.
In addition to Hofstra and Lynn, the CPD selected University of Denver and Centre College in Danville, Ky. to serve as presidential and vice-presidential debate sites, respectively, this year.
While Sauder explained that the University reviews the CPD's site selection guidelines every four years, he added that administrators have concluded that "Emory's campus does not match up well with the debate requirements."
The CPD application covers security, logistics and the size of schools' facilities, according to the website. Specifically, this year's application called for a 17,000-square-foot debate hall and parking space for up to 30 TV satellite trucks.
CPD also required a media filing center adjacent to the debate hall for 3,000 journalists – in addition to a Media Satellite Parking Lot – and a facility of about 4,000 square feet to serve as a ticket distribution center. Debate sites must have approximately 3,000 hotel rooms nearby available for the day for the event as well as "adequate air and ground transportation networks," among several other requirements, according to the CPD.
In addition to not meeting these qualifications, the fact that the debates take place during the middle of the fall semester also prevents Emory from hosting an event of this size, Sauder wrote in an email to the Wheel.
"Virtually every building on our campus is in daily use, and we have not been able to make a convincing case for Emory as a possible venue to ourselves, much less to the Debate Commission," Sauder wrote.
For colleges and universities, hosting a presidential debate is a major investment. Schools are required to pay the CPD $1.65 million up front to cover the costs of preparation including set design and construction, staff and logistics, according to an Oct. 17 USA TODAY College article.
Meanwhile, schools must invest in additional facility upgrades, construction and event preparation on campus.
Hofstra spent a total of $4.5 million this year on the presidential debate held Oct. 16, according to The New York Times. Lynn University invested about $5 million for the presidential debate yesterday evening, ABC News reported on Oct. 20.
"Debates create a lot of buzz for a very short period of time," Sauder wrote. "Having 3,000 working journalists on your campus is no small matter. For one day, or maybe two, your school's name is part of the 24/7 news cycle. And then the caravan moves on."
Sauder said he feels "the investment of time and money only makes sense if the one-day event is linked to larger goals." Such goals, Sauder explained, could include formal and informal educational opportunities for students, proactive admissions strategies and alumni outreach.
Colleges and universities have emphasized that debates provide students with beneficial opportunities in civic engagement and education and enable greater name recognition for host schools.
But Sauder said that at Emory, "students don't have to hold their breaths for four years to see if their school can attract major national figures."
Sauder cited as examples Emory's relationship with former President Jimmy Carter, who annually holds a town hall for 2,000 students in addition to informal visits to University classes, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who visits every several years and holds lectures as well as "office hours" for students.
The University, Sauder added, has brought figures to campus such as film director Spike Lee, investigative reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who broke the Watergate Scandal story in 1972, and acclaimed author Salman Rushdie, who currently serves as a University Distinguished Professor.
"The Emory campus remains a lively destination for many of the country's leading figures in literature, journalism, the arts and politics," Sauder wrote.
– By Jordan Friedman
