Veep debate at Lafayette officially canceled
The vice presidential debate scheduled for Sept. 25 at Lafayette College between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump’s yet-to-be-named pick officially has been canceled.
In sharing the news with the campus community on Tuesday, the college announced that the two parties have opted for debates via the major television networks.
Lafayette College was one of four educational institutions selected to host 2024 debates organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonpartisan organization founded in 1987 dedicated to encouraging debates in the U.S. and across the world.
“We are grateful to the sites, and we are sorry to come to this decision,” said CPD cochairs Antonia Hernández and Frank Fahrenkopf on Monday. “We are dismayed that students of the four campuses will not have the opportunity to participate in these historic voter education forums.”
The other schools released from their contracts are Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas; Virginia State University in Petersburg, Va.; and University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The other institutions were all scheduled to host presidential debates.
“Lafayette respects the decision of the CPD and appreciates that it has enjoyed national and international media attention over the last several months as a result of the CPD’s having chosen the College as its VP debate location,” said Scott Morse, the college’s assistant vice president for communications & marketing.
The college pledged it would still host the civic and artistic events originally organized to accompany the debates.
The college celebrated the November 2023 announcement of the vice presidential debate for its potential to highlight the school nationwide. Lafayette College President Nicole Hurd said she was eager for the debate “to present our vibrant campus to a national audience.” In anticipation of the event, the college also announced plans for facilities updates.
However, the status of the debate has been uncertain for more than a month.
A press release from CPD states that the Biden administration in May said it would not participate in the debates, and that the commission did not find it fair to the institutions to continue preparations. Two years ago, the Republican National Committee voted to withdraw from CPD debates, saying the group was “biased.”
Since its inception, CPD has held 33 presidential and vice presidential debates, 30 of them on college or university campuses.
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