
via Washington University
Washington University in St. Louis has hosted more debates than any other institution in history.
Washington University in St. Louis will host one of the debates in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election.
The Commission on Presidential Debates, the nonpartisan and nonprofit group that orchestrates the official presidential and vice presidential debates, tapped the local university out of 16 applicants to host the second of three presidential debates on Sunday, October 9, 2016.
Full-time Washington University students will receive tickets to the debate in a university-wide lottery.
Schools in Dayton, Ohio, and Las Vegas, Nevada, will host the other two debates, and a university in Farmville, Virginia, will host the vice presidential debate, the commission announced Wednesday.
"We appreciate the many applications we received and are delighted with the sites we have selected,” commission co-chairs Frank Fahrenkopf and Mike McCurry said in a statement. “We look forward to working with these fine universities and their students and communities to bring these important civic events to the nation."
The commission will later announce details about the debates’ formats, candidate selection criteria and moderators.
Washington University has hosted more debates than anywhere else in history. The university was selected to hold debates in five consecutive elections starting in 1992, when the school hosted the first nationally televised three-person presidential debate among President George Bush, then-Governor Bill Clinton and candidate Ross Perot. About 100 million Americans tuned in to the broadcast.
Here’s the full schedule:
First presidential debate:
Monday, September 26, 2016
Wright State University, Dayton, OH
Vice presidential debate:
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Longwood University, Farmville, VA
Second presidential debate:
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Third presidential debate:
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
Contact Lindsay Toler by an email at LToler@stlmag.com or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.