Top Story
October 22, 2007
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Senator Clinton visits Colorado
Recipient of Metro State's Golda Meir award to hold rally at state's most diverse college
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Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton |
For the second time this year, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election is paying a visit to Metropolitan State College of Denver. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) will hold a rally Tuesday, Oct. 23 at Metro State on Auraria Campus between St. Cajetan’s Center and the flagpole near the Plaza Building. The rally, which is free and open to the public, will move to the PE Events Center if the weather is inclement.
The event, sponsored by the Metro Sate Political Science Association, starts at 3:30 p.m. with music from Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Clinton is expected to speak at approximately 4:30 pm. Clinton’s appearance will also feature brief welcomes from Metro State President Stephen Jordan, House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and former Denver mayor Wellington Webb, who is co-chair of Clinton’s national campaign.
Tickets are required but will not guarantee admission as participants will be allowed in on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets are available at http://www.hillaryclinton.com/events/ticketed/20071023Denver/ and in the Tivoli Student Union near the Turnhalle. The audience will be limited to 2,000. Barricades will be set up around the mall, and participants will be required to go through a security check.
“I believe it is a critical part of education—and indeed, of democracy—to expose our students, faculty and staff to many voices expressing differing points of view,” said Metro State President Stephen Jordan, adding that he’s pleased a second presidential candidate has chosen Metro State as a campaign rally location. Former Sen. John Edwards made a campaign stop last February.
“I hope this will serve as a springboard for candidates from all parties to speak at Metro State,” Jordan added.
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Metro State students present Golda Meir award to Senator Clinton during a visit to Washington, DC in 2010. |
College visits by candidates are reminders to get involved says Metro State student “Aaron “Jack” Wylie, who serves as director of legislative affairs and president of the Associated Students of Colorado. “It is vital that students get involved politically. Not only in the presidential election, but in local elections as well. Decisions are made by politicians regardless of people getting involved. Politicians will listen if we as students speak up.”
According to Political Science Professor Norman Provizer, access to youth is important, but it’s not the only audience Metro State offers candidates. “Everyone is interested in reaching the youth vote. We have that and much more,” says Provizer, also founder and director of the Golda Meir Center for Political Leadership at Metropolitan State College of Denver, which recognized Clinton with the Golda Leadership Award in 2000. The visit “reminds us that Colorado is a little bit more on the political map during times of choosing runners than it had been previously. And then once they decide to come to Denver, they choose to come to Metro State. From the diversity side, no place represents the full community better than Metro State.”
Metro State is a fully accredited, four-year institution, serving more than 21,000 students. It has the second-largest undergraduate enrollment in Colorado and is one of the largest four-year public colleges in the nation. Metro State enrolls the highest number of students of color among four-year colleges in the state. It boasts 60,000 alumni, 90 percent of whom stay in Colorado after graduation. Visit Metro State at www.mscd.edu.
Student volunteers are still needed. To sign up, call Jeffrey Castanda at 720-495-8376.
