Wright State students excited for first GOP debate to come to campus

The debate is set for September 26 inside the university’s Nutter Center.

“I could not be any prouder of our university and the fact that the Commission on Presidential Debates has entrusted Wright State to host such an important event”, said Wright State University President David R. Hopkins.

The sites – which also include first-time hosts Wright State University in Ohio and Longwood University in Virginia – were among 16 schools and cities that submitted bids in April to the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates. Washington University will host the second debate on Oct. 9, while the University of Nevada will hold the Oct. 19 debate in Las Vegas.

The non-partisan Common on Presidential Debates has announced four debates in the fall of 2016.

More details about the event will be posted throughout the presidential campaign on Wright State’s debate website.

But if previous debates are any indication, the upfront cost from the host site may be overshadowed by the amount of return from media exposure. “It’s been all kinds of community partners that have been working with us, and so this was a gratifying day today for it be publicly announced, all over the world that we will host the first presidential debate”.

“They quite obviously have confidence in us”, he said.

The Dayton-area debate is the first of three scheduled by the commission, which was established in 1987 by the Democratic and Republican parties to oversee presidential debates. In 2008, Republican candidate John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate, at the facility.