As students were blindsided Wednesday by the news that the presidential candidates would appear at Alfred Lerner Hall on Sept. 11, one question was foremost on everyone’s mind: who’s getting in?
“We’re [Columbia is] hosting it, so as many seats should be made available to students as possible,” said Columbia University College Republicans Executive Director Lauren Salz, BC ’11, expressing a sentiment echoed by many students.
In a move reminiscent to the lead-up to last fall’s visit of controversial Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a diverse array of student leaders came together to draft a joint statement advocating the importance of opening next Thursday’s event, featuring Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), to the most students possible.
“We ... want to make sure that undergraduates are being represented fairly at this event,” the student officers said in the statement. “We write to ensure that the lottery system is not favoring any one group of students over another. It is important that a fair share of the tickets made available are apportioned to undergraduates.”
Among the signatories were Engineering Student Council president Peter Valeiras, SEAS ’09, Student Government Association president Sarah Besnoff, BC ’09, General Studies Student Council president Brody Berg, and Columbia College Student Council president George Krebs, CC ’09, as well as officials in the University Senate, Student Governing Board, Activities Board at Columbia, Community Impact, and the Greek and club sports governing boards.
However, unlike the Ahmadinejad speech, Columbia is not sponsoring the event, and the University’s role in the program’s organizing is unclear, leaving students realistic about their attending.
“The chances are slim, but I’m hopeful,” James Tyson, CC ’11, said, echoing a half-dozen other students.
In an e-mail to the student body late Wednesday night, University President Lee Bollinger said that there would be a student presence at the event but that it would be limited and the attendees will be determined by lottery. According to ServiceNation, 500 attendees described as “leaders of all ages” will be part of the summit. It is not clear whether all 500 will be at Columbia’s event, or precisely how many seats will be available in Roone Arledge Auditorium Thursday.
As of midnight, Barnard students had not received any official notice or assurance that they would also have access to the lottery. Barnard forwarded Bollinger's e-mail to students on Thursday morning.
Chris Daniels, CC ’09 and Columbia University College Democrats president, said that the timing was suitably dramatic. He announced the news of the summit at the group’s open house to a collective gasp.
“I think it’s great that they’re going to be on campus speaking together,” Daniels later said. “I’m hoping it’ll spark the kind of great political dialogue we had last year surrounding Ahmadinejad’s visit.”
Despite hopes that this event would spark an impromptu debate, Bollinger specified in his e-mail that the event “will not be a presidential debate, but rather two individual conversations.” He added that, regardless of the conversation they engage in, “this nonpartisan Forum is one of only a few times that John McCain and Barack Obama are scheduled to appear on the same stage during the general election campaign. We are delighted to be part of an event on a theme so important to all citizens and to Columbians.”
Student leaders also insisted that students shut out of Roone Arledge Auditorium have another forum to view and discuss the event.
“Arrangements, similar to those made for the Ahmadinejad visit, should be made for all students, including but not limited to the installation of a large screen on South Lawn,” the students said in the statement. “Students have shown a tremendous interest in hearing what each presidential candidate has to say, and we feel that this is the best way to reach the largest proportion of the undergraduate population.”
Indeed, several key political student groups were already planning events of their own only hours after the news broke, embracing the theme of Obama’s and McCain’s campaign pledges to quash attack ads to pay respect on Sept. 11.
Most notably, spokespersons for the Dems and the CUCR said that the two usually adversarial groups have agreed not to demonstrate on the day of the event but rather to unite in a show of solidarity, emulating the gestures of the candidates themselves.
Specifically, Dems President Chris Daniels said a large screen may be acquired for the less fortunate. “We don’t have any official plans yet, but I know we’d like to organize something big,” Daniels said.
Maggie Astor, Mary Kohlman, Laura Schreiber, and Lydia Wileden contributed to the reporting of this story.
COMMENTS
Comments will be moderated in accordance with our comment policy