OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi officials and members of the
presidential debate student steering committee have worked together and
developed several ways for students to win or earn tickets for the
presidential debate to be hosted on campus Sept. 26.
With most of the tickets reserved for the Commission on Presidential
Debates, the candidates’ campaign staffs and the political parties,
only a limited number of seats will be available for the university.
The university has determined that students will receive those tickets.
“The student steering committee has a subcommittee that was in charge of coming up with event ideas and a cohesive plan that would distribute the student tickets,” said subcommittee member Claire Graves, a junior from Ackerman.
Like Graves, junior Tyler Craft of Stringer has been involved in the difficult process of choosing the best ways to distribute the tickets.
“The Commission on Presidential Debates is in control of the number of seats available; unfortunately, students get an extremely limited number of tickets,” said Craft, member of the student steering committee and ticket subcommittee. “We wanted to create several different ways for students to win tickets. It was difficult, but we were able to come up with three ways to win.”
Students may obtain tickets the following ways: through a lottery based on participation in debate-related activities between Friday (Aug. 29) and Sept. 10; a lottery based on campus leadership, scholarship and campus activity participation; and by winning tickets in contests related to the debate.
Students interested in participating in the debate-related lottery must pick up a Passport to the Debate card beginning today (Aug. 28) in the Student Union. Students must show student ID to obtain a Passport, which comes with a list of approved debate-related activities. After each event they attend, students can have their Passport stamped. Students are limited to five entries.
Students who have achieved a record of leadership, outstanding scholarship and active campus participation can fill out an online application to qualify for the second lottery as points are assigned based on leadership positions, academic standing and activities. A student must have a minimum of 10 points to qualify for a chance in the lottery.
The final round of tickets goes to winners of the official undergraduate student debate, the OMazing Games on Sept.5-6, the Political Quiz Bowl on Sept. 18 and the Student Media Policy Proposal contest.
Graves encourages students to sign up for the events. “There’s only one way that you can get to be a part of something that is going to be one of the biggest events of your college career, and that is to get involved,” she said. “You can win tickets; you just have to participate.”
For more information on the debate and upcoming debate-related events, visit http://debate.olemiss.edu/ .