Tan & Cardinal 05/02/2012

http://www.otterbein360.com/index.php/article/2012/05/by_invitation_only

After presidential candidate Mitt Romney visited campus to talk about the national economy and challenges that graduating seniors face, students and staff are weighing in on whether the closed-door event was worth the disruption.

The event was open only to invited participants, including seven students involved in a round table discussion with Romney. Five more students were invited to stand on stage during Romney’s speech to the 200 invited guests in Battelle’s Riley Auditorium, according to Dean of Student Affairs, Robert Gatti.

Overall, Otterbein officials said they were pleased with Romney’s campus appearance, but they wished more students could have participated.

“I was hoping more students could participate… but the fact that a presidential candidate came to our campus and spent two hours with us, and asked seven of our students their opinions, I think speaks a lot for our university and our students,” Gatti said.

A video clip from Romney’s Otterbein speech, where he said students should borrow money from their parents to pay for their education, continues to make the rounds of the broadcast news outlets. Gatti also said that national coverage of the event was positive for the school.

According to vice president for Business Affairs Rebecca Vazquez-Skillings the campaign is reimbursing the school for all expenses, including staff overtime, and will be billed at the standard rental rate for Riley Auditorium and other facilities.

“I’m working on gathering the expenses now from the various departments impacted by this,” Vazquez-Skillings said.

Student reviews of Romney’s visit were mixed.

Senior psychology and public relations major and invited participant Kelsey Gorman said, “I believe that (Romney) could make a huge difference in America, and of course meeting him will impact my vote.”

Senior English major Jeff Kintner wasn’t invited to participate. His Friday class was cancelled so he stood with other students and protestors outside of Battelle. By not letting the majority of students in, he said Romney disrespected them.

“It shows he has no intention of hearing opposing viewpoints. As much as I didn’t identify with McCain’s politics, at least he let everyone in who wanted to hear him speak,” he said.

Gatti said that the university has been approached several times over the years to host different campaigns and events.

The last similar event was in 2008, when John McCain held a presidential campaign rally at the Rike Center, which was open to the public and reportedly drew 6,000 attendees.

“What was unusual this time is that it interfered with classes,” Gatti said. “Normally we’d do this on the weekend so it isn’t so disruptive—so this is something we’ll have to re-evaluate.”

Despite student complaints that Otterbein primarily hosts conservative and religious speakers, Krendl said the school’s speaker invitations are balanced across political boundaries.

“When we did Opportunity Nation (in March), we sent invites to Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama and Madeleine Albright, as well as others like Condoleezza Rice, but not all of them were able to commit. We try to reach across the political spectrum,” Krendl said.

“I think it’s important to represent the diversity of opinions across campus, but after you issue invitations you’re at the mercy of the speaker to accept or not,” she said.

The Romney event was not due to a university invitation, Krendl said, and that was why it was the campaign’s decision as to how the event was run and which facility it was held in.

One thing almost everyone seems to agree on is that, at the least, Romney should have opened his speech up to a larger audience.

“I think his speech should have been open to the public,” senior math major and invited participant Jeff Fabus said. “It would’ve been a great opportunity for Otterbein students to listen to his thoughts on the economy so they can be better informed voters.”

Senior education major Lauren Sweezey and invited participant said that she thought Romney made more enemies than supporters with the closed-door event, but that she was glad for the opportunity to provide her opinion.

“I thought it was a little silly not to have the speech open to the public,” Sweezey said. “And I now see how complicated and tiring it must be for the candidates, but it was refreshing to be heard by someone in the political spotlight,” she said.