September 5, 2008
Prez Debate at Ole Miss, Part II
(Crossposted from Brainstorm)
The idea of hosting a presidential debate on one’s campus may arise lightly, in a casual conversation or an e-mail. But the decision actually to seek one is not lightly taken.
In Ole Miss’s case, Curtis Wilkie, a journalism professor and former Boston Globe political reporter who had covered numerous debates, mentioned the idea to Chancellor Robert Khayat five years ago. Khayat asked his executive assistant, Andy Mullins, to find out what was involved. Mullins called someone at Wake Forest, the site of debates in 1988 and 2000, and discovered one thing not to do: host a debate involving a president running for reelection. “The security is just oppressive,” Mullins was told. For openers, no cars would be allowed within a one-mile radius of the debate site for a solid week, effectively shutting down nearby downtown Oxford. He and Khayat decided to forget about 2004 and reopen the question for 2008, when no incumbent would be on the ballot.
Even then, the decision was no sure thing. The Commission on Presidential Debates, which decides who gets to host which debates and when, requires applicants to ante up $1.35-million just to apply, plus who knew how much additional money to make necessary alterations on campus. What if your application failed? (Nineteen colleges and other organizations ended up applying for a 2008 debate, and 15 of them didn’t get one.) What if you ended up with the vice presidential debate? (You weren’t allowed to specify.) What if the candidates decided to skip the commission’s debates and set up their own?
Khayat decided to go ahead. His goal as chancellor from the start has been for the University of Mississippi “to be — and to be perceived as — one of the finest public universities in America.” He’s convinced that since talking office in 1995 he has helped Ole Miss go a long way toward achieving the first part of that goal (a judgment confirmed by a glowing Chronicle profile in September 2006). Now he wants public perceptions of the university to catch up. Khayat sees hosting all the national and international media people (about 3,000) and other dignitaries who will be on campus for the debate, some of them for as long as one or two weeks, as a major step toward accomplishing that.
Next: How Ole Miss got the debate.
Michael Nelson | Posted on Friday September 5, 2008 | Permalink
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