Dr. Michael Schwartz, CSU president (from left),
NBC debate producer Phil Alongi and WKYC's
Brooke Spectrosky address the news conference.
Photo by James P. Kneblik Jr.
CSU pulls it off in 14 days
By James P. Kneblik Jr.
In the short span of two weeks, Cleveland State was able to organize the Feb. 26 debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama at Wolstein Center.
CSU staff and students “pulled all of this together in just fourteen days when universities and other sites had four months and six months,” CSU President Dr. Michael Schwartz said during a news conference on Feb. 25. Also present at the event were Chris Redfern, super delegate and Ohio Democratic Party chair, and Phil Alongi, NBC debate producer and executive producer of NBC special news.Donations
“We’ve (CSU) done it very quickly, including a major fundraiser, in nothing flat,” said Schwartz.
CSU mobilized more than $300,000 for this event, said Peter Anagnostos, vice president of University Advancement. The funds have come from civic and corporate donors. These donors were not giving for political reasons, said Anagnostos. “No one gave in a partisan way. They were doing it in civic pride.”
“It takes a great deal of effort to put on what we believe is the most important debate of the primary season,” Redfern said.Ohio’s impact
“I’m of the belief that whoever wins Ohio on March 4 wins the nomination,” said Redfern. As a super delegate, Redfern is purposefully staying neutral on either candidate.
According to Redfern, both Obama and Clinton have similar commitments to “the middle class and growing Ohio’s economy.”Debate attendees
The Democratic Party’s Web site evenly picked supporters from Clinton and Obama, as well as a “handful of undecided voters” to attend the debate. “The eyes of America will be indeed be on Cleveland,” Alongi said.
Volunteer lottery
Because of too many applicants for student-volunteer positions, the university held a lottery.
Schwartz said he was impressed by the willingness of students to volunteer and never dreamed a lottery would be needed for volunteer work.
“I’m very proud of the fact we have been able to involve about 500 of our students in the production of all this,” Schwartz said. “They’re engaged in this debate as much as anyone else.”Positive publicity
The debate is producing a lot of positive publicity for the university by focusing the political spotlight on CSU, but the “best part is the students get to see it,” Schwartz said.
He expressed how riveting this race has become. “It brought me back to 1960,” he said, adding when John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon ran for office.
Until the current presidential race, the excitement has never quite been the same, explained Schwartz.Reach this Stater reporter at j.kneblik@csuohio.edu
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