Despite tripled hosting fee, college says national exposure is worth it
On Oct. 11, Vice President Joe Biden and challenger Paul Ryan will be at Centre College in Danville, Ky., for a debate that will be moderated by ABC’s Martha Raddatz and broadcast around the world. This is the sole event for the candidates for vice president, sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates, and it is Centre College’s second time hosting such a debate.
“I think every student on campus recognizes that this is a once-in-a-lifetime event, something that we will remember as a highlight of our college experience. Centre students care passionately about giving back to our school and to our community. There is no better example of this than in student responses to the debate. Almost from the day we found out we were hosting one back in the fall, students were asking, ‘How can I help?’” said Centre senior Patrick Cho, a government major, president of the Student Government Association, president of Students of Ailing Mothers and Fathers (AMF) at Centre, and past president of his fraternity.
Cho also discussed the Civility Pledge, “a completely student-led initiative focusing on fostering a positive campus culture at Centre. In signing the pledge, students reaffirm their commitment to bettering the community and to promoting civility and respect on campus. One of the hallmarks of student government at Centre, … we are extending an invitation to both vice presidential candidates to sign the pledge.”
Cho added, “Our generation is often accused of political apathy, but already we are seeing a huge spike in student interest in becoming involved in politics, and more broadly in the issues that impact our generation, the rising cost of student debt being the best example.”
Big doings at a small school
Centre, with an enrollment of 1,300, is the smallest school by far to host such a debate. On campus, Hazelrigg Gym in Sutcliffe Hall has begun its transformation into the media filing center; some 76,000 linear feet of cable (more than 14 miles), just for data alone, has been delivered and is being installed at the 200 tables, from which 750 work stations are being created for the print media. Electrical wiring will be put in as well. Four air socks are being installed in the gym’s rafters to pump in additional cool air, fed from portable chillers installed outside.
AT&T has been installing fiber optic cable into the Norton Center and Sutcliffe Hall, and they are putting up four H-frames across campus that will function as distribution panels. Behind the Norton Center, field cover will be installed to accommodate the 50-60 satellite trucks that will park there, providing some protection for the area and also guarding against problems caused in the event of rain. NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, C-Span and CNN, designated to have the pool feed, will all have broadcast platforms on site. To assure a safe event, about 35 truckloads of concrete barriers will be delivered, two to a truckload.
The Commission on Presidential Debates grew out of a power issue — in 1976, electricity went off and stayed off for 22 minutes during the presidential debate in Philadelphia, according to Clarence Wyatt, professor of history and special assistant to Centre’s President John Roush. Today’s debate contract with the commission requires that in the event of electrical failure, lights can’t flicker; indeed, they must not be off for more than one-tenth of a second. Generators become the primary power source, and the regular power system becomes backup.
Cost-benefit analysis
Hosting this debate requires the right type of facilities and people. It also requires money, and plenty of it.
“Host sites are charged a fee for the privilege of doing all this work,” explained Richard Trollinger, Centre’s vice president for college relations. When hosting its first vice presidential debate in 2000, Centre paid $550,000 to the commission and spent an equivalent sum on work on campus, ranging from power systems to security and crowd control.
By 2012, the commission’s fee tripled to $1,650,000. Centre was undaunted; the college has raised $3 million in total to cover all expenses, much of it from trustees and other individuals. Trollinger pointed out significant corporate support as well.
“We’ve had marvelous support from Lexmark,” he said, which is providing copy, fax, print equipment and staff for the 750 workstations in the media filing center. The Allen Company, a road contractor headquartered in Winchester, Ky., with a major office in Danville, is providing the concrete barriers; Stephens Pipe and Steel in Russell Springs, Ky., the nation’s largest domestically owned manufacturer of chain-link fence, is providing the fencing required. AT&T is a debate sponsor as well as a vendor. Other companies are also contributing, some offering cash gifts in addition to gifts in kind.
Benefits of hosting
Professor Wyatt stresses the educational value in hosting.
“We’re an educational institution, and this is a tremendous educational opportunity for our students — the opportunity to be centrally involved in one of the key moments leading up to the election,” Wyatt said. “The four debates are the only moments that the public, through the news media, can put questions to the candidates.”
In 2000 and now, hundreds of students are involved in many different aspects, including campaign volunteering for both parties, working with news media, and staffing Speakers Park with the news media. Faculty members are using the debate as a theme in some classes, and students and faculty are facilitating educational outreach in the form of online discussions of debates among high school students.
“Hosting the 2000 debate ushered in a decade of unprecedented progress in the life of the college,” Trollinger said. Roughly 28.5 million Americans watched the debate that evening, giving Centre national and international exposure. The college was also the focus of more than 600 stories in national and international print media, and was featured on NBC’s Today Show and NPR’s Morning Edition.
Applications for admission jumped by 18 percent from the year before the debate to the year following. A significant portion of the increase was from out-of-state applicants.
Giving to the college also increased. For example, the number of individuals and organizations giving $1,000 or more annually to Centre increased from 807 in 2000 to 1,007 in 2003. Also, the debate helped to energize and raise the sights of key donors as the college was preparing for a capital campaign. The campaign raised nearly $170 million, far exceeding the goal of $120 million. While many factors play a part in this success, Trollinger and Wyatt posit that the debate contributed significantly.
Regional efforts and rewards
Wyatt and Trollinger expect that every hotel room in Danville and Lexington will be taken by visiting media and political personnel. Lexington’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, city government, and hotel properties “are fantastic help,” Wyatt said appreciatively. The second highest hotel occupancy rate experienced in Lexington’s history occurred when Centre hosted the debate in 2000, eclipsed only by the World Equestrian Games. In the spirit of friendly competition, Centre hopes to eclipse even WEG’s hotel record this time around. The Kentucky Department of Tourism, as well as the Department of Transportation (for traffic diversions, etc.) and Department of Justice (state police), are lending support, backed by Gov. Steve Beshear.
Wyatt summed up the public relations benefits for Centre succinctly, saying, “as a small liberal arts college in a small town, Centre can use this to say, ‘Come here and be part of something extraordinary.’”
Jane S. Shropshire guides students and families through the college search process and is Business Lexington’s Higher Ed Matters columnist. Contact her at Jshrop@att.net.