Spring Break
Students share reactions to Democratic debate
Aditi Dubey
Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: News
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The Democratic Presidential Debate at Drexel University Oct. 30 elicited varied student reaction all over campus.
"Honestly, I was shocked when I first heard Drexel was hosting the debate," Kala Fryman, a junior majoring in International Area Studies, said. "I would expect UPenn to host it or something, not Drexel."
While there were a number of students who were excited about the debate, others expressed apathy over the event.
"I don't really care that the debate is coming to Drexel because you are actually never going to get to see anyone," Jeffery Stuhr, a freshman majoring in international area studies, said. "You'll just see a bunch of people in black suits with wires coming out of their ears."
Some students were initially excited, but were disappointed about the limited tickets to the event. According to USGA president Jeff Gardosh, 100 students got the opportunity to watch this debate in the Main Auditorium and about 350 were seated in the Mandell theatre for the Watch Party. Additionally, there was a public viewing held in the Korman Quad for students.
Brooke Benoit, a junior majoring in Business Administration, said: "I … felt that they should have made more of an effort to involve the student body in the actual viewing of the debate."
However, John DiNardo, vice provost for academic affairs, defended the limited seating.
"One needs to recognize that there are a limited number of seats in the auditorium," he said. "The limitations provided by the available venue would happen anywhere and I think there were opportunities for students to view this elsewhere."
In preparation for the event, the Main Building was closed at noon on debate day to for security reasons. Faculty members affected by this had the option to reschedule their classes elsewhere.
"Once we knew that the main building complex was going to be closed off at noon, we decided that we wanted to try to make as many classes run as possible," DiNardo said. "So a professor had the option whether to cancel or not, but we tried to accommodate whatever their needs were. … We tried to keep the University running as normally as possible."
"Honestly, I was shocked when I first heard Drexel was hosting the debate," Kala Fryman, a junior majoring in International Area Studies, said. "I would expect UPenn to host it or something, not Drexel."
While there were a number of students who were excited about the debate, others expressed apathy over the event.
"I don't really care that the debate is coming to Drexel because you are actually never going to get to see anyone," Jeffery Stuhr, a freshman majoring in international area studies, said. "You'll just see a bunch of people in black suits with wires coming out of their ears."
Some students were initially excited, but were disappointed about the limited tickets to the event. According to USGA president Jeff Gardosh, 100 students got the opportunity to watch this debate in the Main Auditorium and about 350 were seated in the Mandell theatre for the Watch Party. Additionally, there was a public viewing held in the Korman Quad for students.
Brooke Benoit, a junior majoring in Business Administration, said: "I … felt that they should have made more of an effort to involve the student body in the actual viewing of the debate."
However, John DiNardo, vice provost for academic affairs, defended the limited seating.
"One needs to recognize that there are a limited number of seats in the auditorium," he said. "The limitations provided by the available venue would happen anywhere and I think there were opportunities for students to view this elsewhere."
In preparation for the event, the Main Building was closed at noon on debate day to for security reasons. Faculty members affected by this had the option to reschedule their classes elsewhere.
"Once we knew that the main building complex was going to be closed off at noon, we decided that we wanted to try to make as many classes run as possible," DiNardo said. "So a professor had the option whether to cancel or not, but we tried to accommodate whatever their needs were. … We tried to keep the University running as normally as possible."
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