2008 Presidential Debate | The University of Mississippi

April 8, 2008

OpEd: Presidential Debate Provides Opportunity to Tell Mississippi's Success Stories

by Robert Khayat

The University of Mississippi community is thrilled to be selected as the site of the first presidential debate of 2008. Hosting this historic event on behalf of the people of Mississippi is a great compliment to Ole Miss. Millions of people around the world will tune in to watch the live broadcast September 26.

While the debate is being held on the Ole Miss campus, it actually places the entire state in the international spotlight, and we thank the corporations and foundations that are generously funding the $4 million production.

Although we don't know exactly which candidates will participate in our debate, we do know the candidates will discuss domestic issues, providing a tremendous opportunity to showcase our institution's programs to national and international audiences. We have several institutes and centers that are helping find solutions to our country's challenges, including the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, Trent Lott Leadership Institute, Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, Croft Institute for International Studies and Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics.

The university and Oxford will extend the famous hospitality of Mississippi to an estimated 3,000 journalists from around the globe. As the media representatives prepare to cover the debate, our students will have many opportunities to help them. This will be an extraordinary experience that we will never forget.

Faculty and staff are creating courses and symposia to make the debate even more meaningful and memorable for our students and community, and alumni across the country are hosting debate viewing events in their communities.

Media coverage of the university and the state is expected to be at an all-time high during debate week, making this is an incredible opportunity for sharing Mississippi's success stories: the courage and resiliency of her people after Katrina, the teamwork and farsighted leadership that landed Nissan and Toyota assembly plants, and the creativity of dozens of writers, artists and musicians who have shaped American culture.

The Commission on Presidential Debates chose Ole Miss from among 19 institutions to host this debate. Our success reflects the tremendous gains Mississippi's colleges and universities have made over the past few decades. Mississippians from Olive Branch to Gulfport are working to solve the domestic problems the candidates will be debating - a slowing economy, access to affordable health care, our country's defense and the declining quality of our environment for our children and grandchildren.

For example, as president of the American Heart Association, Dr. Dan Jones, vice chancellor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, is addressing some of the health care challenges facing our nation. In addition, UMMC, Jackson State University and Tougaloo College are conducting the Jackson Heart Study, the world's largest study of cardiovascular disease in African-Americans. It will impact the lives of black men and women across the country.

On the Oxford campus, staff members in the National Food Service Management Institute are helping school districts across America fight childhood obesity. Researchers in the National Center for Physical Acoustics are developing instruments to detect snipers and land mines. Scientists in the National Center for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering are helping the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulate sediment transport along coastlines and rivers, and faculty in the Center for Educational Research and Evaluation are helping the Barksdale Reading Institute raise the reading levels of our children.

In less than six months, a tremendous event will take place at Ole Miss. We urge all our citizens to embrace this historic opportunity to show the world the state's magnificent contributions to our great nation.

Robert Khayat is chancellor of the University of Mississippi.

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