Parking lot closures, public safety towing cars, Nassau County police officials closing off campus and Hofstra Debate 2016 posters all over. This is just the beginning of the preparations that Hofstra University has been in the process of for the past couple of weeks for the First Presidential Debate of 2016. Being a first year graduate student, this year is almost like déjà vu to me because 4 years ago, I was a freshman in undergrad when Hofstra was already in the process of final preparations for the 2012 presidential debate. Hofstra University hosted the presidential debate for the second time in October 2012 and I will never forget the vibe on campus weeks prior to that event. It was my first semester at Hofstra and I was excited as weeks went by seeing all the hard work the university was putting into this event.
When the e-mail came out with information for volunteer opportunities, I wanted to apply as soon as the application was posted. I remember reading that students who apply and get accepted as volunteers will forfeit entering their name into the raffle for a guest ticket for the debate. After reading that, I did hesitate to apply. I had to choose between a slim chance of getting a debate ticket to attend as a guest and being a volunteer and to be able to say that I was able to contribute in a way that was more meaningful to me. I chose volunteering simply because I thought I would have a better chance of being more involved with the event, even if that meant I wasn’t going to attend the debate itself.
Volunteering for the debate had a different energy to it. It was definitely more exciting. I was appointed to be a part of the ticketing operations section which meant that I would be helping hand out tickets to guests at the coliseum, where all the guests sign in to get their tickets before a shuttle takes them off to the Debate Hall.
By the end of volunteering, we had all started packing up and were getting ready to go home or stay on campus to watch a live stream of the debate. The woman we had to report to suddenly came by to talk to me and this other volunteer.
“Don’t be so sad, girls!” While saying so, she waved a pair of debate tickets to us. At first I thought it was a joke.
I asked “Are we going to the debate?”
She said, “Yes, we are all going to the debate.” I freaked out, and I was so excited.
The minute Obama stepped onto the platform in the Debate Hall, I thought, “How many people can actually say they breathed the same air as President Obama… At their own school?!”
It was such a memorable experience and such a great way to start off my freshman year at Hofstra; to be part of an event in a way that I was able to help set up and attend it. It was a day that would be documented in history and referred back to many times by this institution.
Last semester, lot of people were discussing how Hofstra was the back up school and that the chances of us hosting a debate for the 3rd time in a row was very unlikely. On top of that, I was disappointed when I would overhear some conversations of students talking about their support for a particular candidate, but when asked why they were supporting them, the students didn’t really have a reason to back up their opinions. I was afraid of how many others were almost blindly supporting either candidate, without realizing their decision at the end of the elections has a huge impact.
When news broke out this summer that Hofstra University was going to host the First Presidential Debate of this year after Wright State University was no longer able to host it, I had a similar rush of excitement that I had back in 2012. I didn’t get accepted this time around as a volunteer (but that’s okay since I couldn’t commit to it this semester), however the enthusiasm and contribution of students is definitely bigger than it was 4 years ago.
Debate related events on campus have had great turn-outs so far where a lot of students asked meaningful and thought provoking questions. Attending these events reminded me that there are peers around taking the elections seriously and have thought about their choices and opinions. In a way it’s refreshing and a reminder of the fact that the elections will impact us students the most for the next couple of years and even more beyond. We are the ones shaping the future now.