By Valerie Gauman Lucas
The University recently launched Educate ’08: Dialogue, Democracy and the ’08 Debates on Feb. 4, a wide-ranging series of events, lectures and academic programs. The series will span the nine months leading up to the final 2008 presidential debate, hosted at the University.
The program started with a student and faculty trip to the New Hampshire primaries over Jan. 5-7 and will culminate with the debate itself on Oct. 15.
“Educate ’08 is a series of curriculum tools, programs and events geared towards involving Hofstra students and the surrounding community with the excitement surrounding the presidential debates,” said Cynthia Bogard, director of the Center for Civic Engagement and an associate professor of sociology.
Patrick McDonald, a student representative on the Educate ’08 committee, serves as a voice for the students. Four University programs that have partnered with Educate ’08 are the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the Presidency, Center for Civic Engagement, Hofstra Cultural Center and the National Center for Suburban Studies.
Aside from the recent visibility of the series on the University Web site and TV channel (HTV), Educate ’08 may be getting the most face time through the voter registration booths in the Student Center, which have steadily drawn students.
That is where Samara Savino, a sophomore political science major, first heard about Educate ’08. “It’s a good thing people are making more of an effort to educate others on the presidential election,” said Savino. “I think it’s important because there are a lot of young people my age who are able to vote but don’t.”
The University has done well in the past, according to Bogard, with 67 percent of students voting in the 2004 election as opposed to 54 percent, which was typical for other colleges in New York state. In addition to riling up the student body to vote, Bogard said it is important to “make sure students go to the polls armed with information about the issues that they are interested in.”
Numerous Educate ’08 events are free and open to students. Topics covered in lectures provided through the International Scene Lecture Series include “Can We Abolish Nuclear Weapons?” (March 11) and “Can American Democracy Survive the Growing Wealth Gap?” (April 1).
Other free lectures are available, with topics including analysis of the presidential campaign, climate change and its impact, lessons to be learned from former presidents, State of the Union analysis and the changing field of news and documentary production. These events include speakers with prestigious media backgrounds who hail from the New York Times, PBS, The Washington Post and CNN.
Not all of the events are lectures; the series boasts dramatic performances, festivals and scholarships to study with the Washington Center at the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. There is a staged reading by University students and Ellen McLaughlin, the award winning playwright, director and actor, of the classic anti-war play “Lysistra.” There will also be a performance of excerpts from Shange’s “For Colored Girls,” the annual Earth Day Festival, “Mayday at the Movies: Comedy and Tragedy at Work,” (the 7th annual film festival of work and working people around the world) and the Day of Peace.
Bogard also spoke of a future event still in the works involving multiple dramatic re-enactments, or “democracy in performance” across the campus, showcasing the most important moments in American history.
When asked which event she is most excited about, Bogard laughed. “I wish I could tell you!”
What she did, however, reveal is that there is a “top secret talent” in the works to come to the University. She illustrated the large scale of the mysterious event, joking, “Who’s going to care about the presidential debates after this?”
On a more serious note, she urged students to “Check the Web site often and come out for events. Realize what a privilege it is having the presidential debates on your campus and take advantage of it. And, most important, come out and vote.”
For a full listing of events provided through Educate ’08 as well as pricing, dates and locations, visit www.hofstra.edu/educate08/ or www.hofstra.edu/Academics/Colleges/HCLAS/CCE/ for information on the Center for Civic Engagement.
Students will have the opportunity to attend numerous free lectures, performances and festivals in the months leading up to October’s presidential debate.