Big news today! Cleveland was chosen to host the very first 2020 presidential debate!
The debate will take place at the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion, part of the Health Education Campus.
“Case Western Reserve also is deep in COVID-19 preparations, but the partnership with Cleveland Clinic – and the (health education campus’s) distance from the university’s main campus – made co-hosting more feasible,” the release reads.
Though specifics on how organizers will mitigate the risk of the coronavirus pandemic during the event were not released on Monday, the hospital will control audience size, distance between seats and sanitation.
University of Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins wrote in a letter to campus that the restrictions on the event because of the coronavirus, though necessary, diminished the educational value of hosting.
“The inevitable reduction in student attendance in the debate hall, volunteer opportunities and ancillary educational events undermined the primary benefit of hosting — to provide our students with a meaningful opportunity to engage in the American political process,” President Rev. John Jenkins wrote.
Here's to hoping things go smoothly in Cleveland for the debate! Of note, the University of Michigan already backed out of hosting the Oct. 15 debate because of COVID concerns.
