By Brendan O’Reilly
The University has applied to be a host site for a 2008 presidential debate, and has the endorsement of a U.S. senator.
Of the 19 applicants who filed with the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), 15 are colleges and universities.
A presidential debate has not taken place in New York since 1960, when John F. Kennedy and then-Vice President Richard Nixon debated in Manhattan. Hofstra is the only applicant from New York, and one of three in the Northeast region. Wesleyan University of Connecticut and VisitPittsburgh, the Greater Pittsburgh Convention and Visitors Bureau, are the other two.
The University paid $7,500 to have its application accepted, and must provide hotel accommodations as well as ground transportation for the commission members who will survey the campus before the CPD makes it decisions. The CPD is expected to name the hosts of the debates by October.
If chosen as a debate site, the University must give the CPD $1.35 million for “production costs.” Other costs, such as providing personnel, catering, shuttle transportation and television monitors, may amount to approximately $1 million. Funds are being raised from donors, rather than tuition.
“Hofstra University’s size, location and facilities make our campus an ideal setting for one of the most important events of the presidential election cycle,” said President Rabinowitz. “Bringing a presidential debate to Hofstra University will enable our students and the entire Long Island community to participate in this election, and in turn showcase our students and the Long Island community to the American people.”
The proposed venue for the debate is the Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. The complex, commonly known as the Hofstra Arena, can seat more than 5,000. The CPD requires the debate hall to be at least 17,000 square feet. The arena is 93,000 square feet over all, and 31,000 square feet at floor level.
The CPD has strict guidelines for the temperature of the debate hall, ventilation and humidity. The commission also specifies the hall must have “excellent acoustical qualities” and “comfortable, fully padded seats.”
Hosts must also provide facilities for a media filing center, media interview center and accreditation center.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote the chairmen of the CPD, urging them to choose Hofstra as a debate location.
The senator has been close with the University, selecting it as a venue to announce legislation he has authored, and participating as a commencement speaker.
“With a rich history in presidential studies, Hofstra, located in Hempstead, New York, is an ideal venue for one of the debates,” Schumer wrote. “Hofstra has held 11 highly successful presidential conferences, including the most recent of which in November of 2005 on Bill Clinton’s presidency, at which the former president delivered a keynote address. Just last year, Hofstra launched the much-lauded Center for Presidential Studies.”
Schumer said since New Yorkers Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani are running for president, “it is only fitting that one of the debates take place in New York…”
While Clinton and Giuliani are front-runners, the CPD will pick locations months before the major-party nominees are known.