Hofstra University expects to spend over $4.5 million to prepare for and host its third consecutive presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on Monday, Sept. 26.
Preparations for the first presidential debate of 2016 began when Wright State University (WSU) withdrew its bid to host in July due to rising security costs.
Melissa Connolly, vice president of University Relations, has handled and overseen much of the 2016 debate preparations, as well as the 2008 and 2012 debates held at Hofstra. She estimates Hofstra’s total price tag to be significantly lower than WSU’s.
“The cost, we expect it to go up, but we’re still dealing with stuff. We said in 2012 that the debate was going to cost around $4.5 million and that’s about what we came out with. I think [this year’s total] is going to be higher, not significantly higher, but we’re operating under the impression that most things are the same and a couple of new things have come up, like greater wireless capability and infrastructure.”
An unprecedented number of media outlets – both national and international – have requested access to Hofstra’s campus when the debate broadcasts live from the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
Seth Bauguess, director of communications at WSU, is quoted in USA Today as having estimated WSU’s total cost of hosting to be upwards of $11 million, identifying the difficulty to secure the entire campus as the main factor in this price.
Hofstra alumni, specifically David S. Mack and Dr. Lawrence G. Herbert, are providing donations for the debate to be held, which according to Connolly, is the source of “a large portion of funding.”
“[Rabinowitz] brings in the donor money and the alumni funds. The debate is fully fundraised by donor money. We have a board of trustees that are extraordinarily supportive and our two big donors,” Connolly said.
Hofstra will host the first presidential debate of an election season for the first time, allowing less than 10 weeks of preparation after discovering the university would act as the host site on July 19.
“I think the hardest thing, even though we’ve done this before, is just the amount of time to get ready. The president always feels very strongly that an educational program needs to go along with it, so getting that up and running in seven weeks while getting the debate ready in seven weeks, when you usually have a year to do both, was challenging,” Connolly said.
Dr. Meenekshi Bose, director for the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency, has planned many events for students to attend leading up to the debate.
“Summer ended on July 19th at Hofstra, but I think it’s really amazing that we have put together a fantastic program in less than ten weeks that really captures the key issues in the 2016 presidential race,” Bose said.
Aside from event programming, Hofstra provided about 300 students with volunteer opportunities and others will have the chance to win a ticket into the debate hall through a “random lottery.”
“I’m an operations volunteer,” Keegan Rogers, a junior biochemistry major said. “I was working in Event Management and my boss told me he worked the past two debates, he was explaining them and it sounded exciting; so I figured I would volunteer to see what it would be like. Plus, honestly it’s a resume builder that will look good when applying for just about anything,” he said.
Andrea Ascencio, a senior biology major, entered her bid for a chance to see the two leading candidates debate. “I applied for tickets and I think it’ll be pretty great to see a debate. We should all try to be involved when something like this comes to campus because we can all vote.”
While 15 tickets to the debate hall were given to students of WSU, the remaining tickets allocated by the Commision on Presidential Debate will be awarded to Hofstra students. For students who were not chosen as a volunteer and who will not gain entry to the debate hall, there will still be opportunities to be immersed in debate day.
“The whole campus almost becomes like a civics fair,” Connolly said. “The parking lot between the three bears and the [Graduate] Resident Hall are going to close ... the Wednesday before the debate so that Fox, CNN and MSNBC can set up huge broadcast areas so students can go there and watch live television be made.”
According to Connolly, this space, formerly called “issue ally,” will be known as “broadcast plaza” and will also host different advocacy organizations such as C-Span, AARP and the ONE Campaign. These organizations will bring interactive displays for students to experience such as a White House bounce castle that is expected to be presented by the ONE Campaign, and a virtual reality art display that MTVU will reveal in the Sondra and David S. Mack Student Center.
“There will be a performance of living history called ‘Democracy in Performance’ in a tent in one of the intramural fields,” Connolly said. “There will be live television being shot all around campus ... and there will be the live watch parties at night.”
Opportunities to witness major media organizations and be interviewed by them will not be hard to come by. According to Connolly, when Hofstra hosted its second presidential debate in 2012, campus was flooded with approximately 3,500 members of the media.
“Each major outlet brings a couple hundred people, including everyone from on-air talent to those who pull cables in the media filing center. I don’t know how many outlets will be here. If you look at New York, every outlet is coming.”
Other outlets expected to make their way to campus this week include: Politico, Telemundo, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and more.
As a professor, Bose’s goal leading up to the debate is to allow students to make the most of the experience.
She said, “I think hosting a debate is a unique experience and it’s a way to really bring the presidential race home to students, faculty, community, in a way that watching it from a distance just doesn’t achieve.”