Centre Vice Presidential Debate 2000

The debate at Centre drew favorable coverage in media ranging from the Boston Globe to the Washington Post. Here's a sampling of stories available online.

Boston Globe: "Tiny Danville relishes the nation's attention"
(by Yvonne Abraham, Oct. 6, 2000)

" Even for ''the city of firsts,'' as this town is known, the vice presidential debate - the Thrill in the 'Ville, as it was billed - packs quite the historical punch.... This pretty town, dotted with Georgian homes and recently planted flowers, is a good deal more excited about its debate than Boston seemed about Tuesday's. Like the University of Massachusetts-Boston, Centre College spent a giant chunk of money - a million dollars - to bring the debate to Danville. But by late afternoon yesterday, the whole town seemed to agree it was worth it. The nation's eyes were on Danville." [The Boston Globe has a comprehensive home page about the vice presidential debate, complete with on-line transcript and several stories.

Washington Post: "Informative, if not electrifying"
(by David Von Drehle, Oct. 6, 2000)

"Centre College hosted the debate. This unlikely setting—far from the nearest airport, in a place without many four-lane roads, in fact—turned out to be one of the best ever. The whole day was a happy pageant of Norman Rockwell meets Alexis de Tocqueville."

CNN: "An auspicious moment for tiny Centre College, town of Danville" (By Ian Christopher McCaleb, Oct. 6, 2000)

"The atmosphere at Centre—that of a small liberal arts school where all the students live on campus and seem to know each other—is becoming more and more rare, as college-age students opt for larger schools that specialize in business instruction or high technology. Students and school operatives went out of their way Thursday to demonstrate the campus' sense of community, and its symbiotic relationship with old, historic Danville....'What I hope the debate does for Centre will be to give our faculty and students a greater confidence—that in spite of our size, we are a college that thinks and acts on a national scale,' said J. Carey Thompson, the school's dean of admissions and student financial planning."

Cincinnati Post: "Danville real winner this night"
(by Nick Clooney, Oct. 9, 2000)

"Many of you saw on TV how Danville came up to the moment. Friends in the press corps told me that this, the smallest community ever to host one of these debates, was also the best organized. Three cheers for Danville and Centre.... The evening was magic."

Christian Science Monitor:
"Small Centre College gets big lesson hosting vice presidential debate" (by Amelia Newcomb, Sept. 19, 2000)

"So how did a small college in a small town in the heart of Kentucky persuade the Commission on Presidential Debates to send the candidates here? 'We swung for a home run,' says Centre President John Roush, who helped host a presidential debate at the University of Richmond in Virginia in 1992. 'I thought it was possible, and that it would be great to bring a debate about citizenship and what it means to be an American, to a small town.' Not to mention the opportunity to focus the nation's eyes for an evening on a school that is making an aggressive push to move beyond a regional to a national reputation....Centre has produced two vice presidents and two US Supreme Court justices.... But what the school pitched most vigorously was an appealing campus in a town that many Americans can relate to, and where students are actively engaged in college life."



					Post-Debate News Coverage The debate at Centre drew favorable coverage in media ranging from the Boston Globe to the Washington Post. Here's a sampling of stories available online. Boston Globe: "Tiny Danville relishes the nation's attention" (by Yvonne Abraham, Oct. 6, 2000) " Even for ''the city of firsts,'' as this town is known, the vice presidential debate - the Thrill in the 'Ville, as it was billed - packs quite the historical punch.... This pretty town, dotted with Georgian homes and recently planted flowers, is a good deal more excited about its debate than Boston seemed about Tuesday's. Like the University of Massachusetts-Boston, Centre College spent a giant chunk of money - a million dollars - to bring the debate to Danville. But by late afternoon yesterday, the whole town seemed to agree it was worth it. The nation's eyes were on Danville." [The Boston Globe has a comprehensive home page about the vice presidential debate, complete with on-line transcript and several stories. Washington Post: "Informative, if not electrifying" (by David Von Drehle, Oct. 6, 2000) "Centre College hosted the debate. This unlikely setting—far from the nearest airport, in a place without many four-lane roads, in fact—turned out to be one of the best ever. The whole day was a happy pageant of Norman Rockwell meets Alexis de Tocqueville." CNN: "An auspicious moment for tiny Centre College, town of Danville" (By Ian Christopher McCaleb, Oct. 6, 2000) "The atmosphere at Centre—that of a small liberal arts school where all the students live on campus and seem to know each other—is becoming more and more rare, as college-age students opt for larger schools that specialize in business instruction or high technology. Students and school operatives went out of their way Thursday to demonstrate the campus' sense of community, and its symbiotic relationship with old, historic Danville....'What I hope the debate does for Centre will be to give our faculty and students a greater confidence—that in spite of our size, we are a college that thinks and acts on a national scale,' said J. Carey Thompson, the school's dean of admissions and student financial planning." Cincinnati Post: "Danville real winner this night" (by Nick Clooney, Oct. 9, 2000) "Many of you saw on TV how Danville came up to the moment. Friends in the press corps told me that this, the smallest community ever to host one of these debates, was also the best organized. Three cheers for Danville and Centre.... The evening was magic." Christian Science Monitor: "Small Centre College gets big lesson hosting vice presidential debate" (by Amelia Newcomb, Sept. 19, 2000) "So how did a small college in a small town in the heart of Kentucky persuade the Commission on Presidential Debates to send the candidates here? 'We swung for a home run,' says Centre President John Roush, who helped host a presidential debate at the University of Richmond in Virginia in 1992. 'I thought it was possible, and that it would be great to bring a debate about citizenship and what it means to be an American, to a small town.' Not to mention the opportunity to focus the nation's eyes for an evening on a school that is making an aggressive push to move beyond a regional to a national reputation....Centre has produced two vice presidents and two US Supreme Court justices.... But what the school pitched most vigorously was an appealing campus in a town that many Americans can relate to, and where students are actively engaged in college life."