Hofstra University was center of international attention and excitement as it hosted the final showdown between presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain on Oct. 15.
Students, faculty and members of the community all took part in helping to make the event a reality.
Julie Gardiner, senior at Hofstra, said a lot of students were involved with activities and preparations on campus for the debate. She chose to volunteer with setting up the event and helped lay out 500,000 feet of wire needed for the debate.
She said students also used the high-profile event to protest and advocate political ideas and causes across the campus.
"Everybody here will remember this for the rest of our college careers," said Julia Gardiner, senior at Hofstra.
"Preparing to host this debate has required long hours of planning," said Stuart Rabinowitz, president of Hofstra, moments before the debate.
Out of Hofstra's 12,890 students, 6,802 participated in the lottery for tickets for access to the campus' David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. The complex has a capacity of 5,000, but only 250 Hofstra students were granted access into the debate hall.
"I was devastated when I found out that such a small number of students would be able to actually watch the debate," said Stephanie Cherenfaut, junior.
Students without tickets who didn't want to watch the debate from their dorm rooms were welcome to attend watch parties that were scattered throughout the campus.
Cherenfaut said she had a good time watching the debate with her friends at the Student Center and said she realized a noticeable change in the campus' atmosphere after the debates were announced.
"Everyone seems a little more compassionate, more sociable and more proud to call themselves Hofstra students," she said.
Another junior, David Gordon, said he heard so many people say that the debate is the reason their friends know where their school is located.
"The idea of the dignitaries coming out to the depths of Hempstead is a very funny idea," said David Gordon, a junior. "But it's also good for putting the university on the map."
McCain and Obama went head to head, with CBS's Bob Schieffer as the moderator, in this debate, which focused on domestic issues.
Julie Lindzer, a Hofstra freshman, also watched the debate from the Student Center and felt that certain topics, such as rising tuition prices, were ignored.
"I'm disappointed that they didn't address important issues that concern a lot of students," said Julie Lindzer, freshman. "Each candidate spent more time trying to oust the other candidate."
As for how Schieffer performed as a moderator, Lindzer said she found him amusing in the way he introduced new topics and pressed for answers. She also agreed with the decision to have the candidates talking face to face, unlike in the previous debates.
After the debate, The Knight News polled 50 Hofstra students at random. 45 students said that Obama won the debate. Two students said McCain was the victor, while three students were undecided.
In former interviews with the press, Rabinowitz said that hosting the debate would cost Hofstra upwards of $3.5 million dollars, but, in his speech prior to the debate, he said the costs were almost completely offset thanks to the university's generous benefactors.
"It was a huge excellence for the university to host this," said Scott Michello, a senior.
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