VSU to host presidential debate in 2024

ETTRICK – Virginia State University has been picked to host one of the three presidential debates next year, the university announced Monday afternoon.

The second debate in the series is set for Oct. 1, 2024, at the VSU Multi-Purpose Center on campus.

With the choice, VSU becomes the first historically Black college and university [HBCU] to host a national political debate and the third Virginia college to do so since the Commission on Presidential Debates began organizing them in 1988. The University of Richmond hosted a presidential debate in 1992, and Longwood University in Farmville hosted a vice presidential debate in 2016.

VSU president Dr. Makola Abdullah said in a statement released by the university that his school “was honored and grateful” to be chosen.

“This is an historic moment for our university and for HBCUs nationwide,” Abdullah said. “Our university mantra is ‘Greater Happens Here,’ and we look forward to welcoming the candidates, the Commission on Presidential Debates and the nation to the ‘greater’ at VSU.”

Recognition of Virginia as a battleground state that will impact 'our nation as a whole'

The first of the debates is scheduled for Sept. 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. The final debate will be Oct. 9 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

There will be one vice presidential debate Sept. 25 at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.

The selection of Virginia for one of the debates is a sign of its growing influence as a battleground state in the 2024 presidential election. Between 1968 and 2004, Virginia was reliably Republican. That ended in 2008 when Democrat Barack Obama carried the state and has continued since.

Republican Glenn Youngkin’s 2021 gubernatorial victory led a GOP sweep of the state’s top three elected offices and helped Republicans gain control of the House of Delegates for the next two years. Youngkin himself has been mentioned as possible GOP presidential material in 2024, but that talk has eased some since Democrats regained control of both the House and state Senate in the Nov. 7 legislative elections.

One of the three presidential debates in 1992 was held at the Robbins Field House on the campus of the University of Richmond. It featured incumbent Republican George H.W. Bush, independent candidate Ross Perot and Democrat Bill Clinton, who went on to win the election.

In 2016, the vice-presidential debate at Longwood University featured Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as Hillary Clinton’s running mate on the Democratic ticket. Kaine squared off against former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, GOP candidate Donald Trump’s running mate.

VSU said in a statement that bringing the debate to Ettrick “will leave a lasting impact on the campus community, the university’s reputation and our nation as a whole.”

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Youngkin reposted the VSU announcement and added, "Congratulations!"

Students will play a 'key role in the democratic process'

The Commission on Presidential Debates accepts applications from sites interested in hosting a presidential debate, with a focus on college and university campuses to allow students to take part in the production process, according to the commission website.

The commission’s production staff reviews the submitted proposals, conducts site surveys and consults with members of the White House television pool and federal law enforcement to evaluate each site’s facilities.

“We were happy to host them here on campus so that they could see our state-of-the-art facility and multi-purpose center, and we were also happy to give them a tour of campus so they could better understand why this was the right selection,” said Eldon Burton, assistant vice president of government relations for Virginia State University.

“We also wanted them to be able to understand our history and who we are as an HBCU but also who we are as a premiere institution in higher education,” he said.

Founded in 1882 by Del. Alfred W. Harris (Dinwiddie County) as a land-grant university, Virginia State University currently has an enrollment of approximately 5,100 students and boasts several notable alumni including businessman Reginald F. Lewis, the first African American to own a billion-dollar company; Gladys Mae West, whose work was attributed to the creation of the GPS, and Congresswoman Lucy McBath, D-Georgia.

Burton said Virginia State University students will play a pivotal role in the planning and production process leading up to and including the Oct. 1 debate.

“Our students will be front and center and playing a key role in the democratic process,” he said. “We’re not just representing VSU, we’re representing all HBCUs.”

The process of selecting dates for presidential debates is equally complex – it takes early voting dates into consideration along with religious and federal holidays, milestone events – such as opening of the General Assembly of the United Nations – and White House television pool contractual conflicts like professional sporting events, before pinning down a debate date.

“The CPD's goal is to select dates that will allow for the largest possible viewing and listening audience,” according to the commission’s website.

The commission’s Board of Directors is tasked with choosing the final sites and dates of the debate, which are then announced about a year in advance. A spokesperson for the Commission on Presidential Debates said the organization is unable to comment on the location selection process.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Virginia State University chosen to host presidential debate in 2024