CNU to Host Forum Featuring Candidates for The Virginia House of Delegates

(Newport News, Va.) - Christopher Newport University’s Judy Ford Wason Center for Public Policy - along with CNU College Republicans and CNU Young Democrats - will host a forum on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, at 6 p.m. in the Ferguson Center Music & Theatre Hall. The forum will provide university students and community members the opportunity to discuss public policy challenges facing the Commonwealth with district House of Delegates candidates.

The forum will begin with 94th district candidates G. Glenn Oder (R) and Gary R. West (D) answering moderated questions from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Following a 15-minute intermission, 93rd district candidates Phillip A. Hamilton (R) and Robin A. Abbott (D) will answer moderated questions until 8:15 p.m. The questions will be limited to public policy issues in the areas of the state budget, public education, higher education, public safety, health care, mental health and disabilities, transportation, energy, and the environment.

Each candidate, based on a coin toss, will have an opportunity for a three-minute opening statement and a two-minute closing statement in reverse order of the opening statements. Responses to the questions will be strictly limited to two minutes for each candidate, and questions will be rotated between the candidates for first response. The moderator for the evening will be Mr. Joel Rubin, a Hampton Roads journalist with a long history of questioning candidates for elected office.

Quentin Kidd, CNU associate professor of political science and chair of the Department of Government, noted: "We feel that as a public institution of higher education we should host a candidate forum both for our friends and neighbors in the community as well as for our student body. We hope this forum facilitates the kind of public discussion that should take place leading up to an election."

The forum is free and open to the public. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

---

Christopher Newport University is a four-year public university in Newport News, Virginia. CNU enrolls 4,800 students in programs through its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Joseph W. Luter III College of Business and Leadership and offers great teaching, small classes and an emphasis on leadership, civic engagement and honor.
Visit us at www.cnu.edu.

CNU Home | Office of Public Relations | CNU Press Releases | News & Events