Texas Southern University enters the national spotlight as the home of the Democratic Party’s third primary debate on September 12th and 13th, as announced on Sunday, July 21st during ABC’s Sunday morning show “This Week.”
According to Dr. Austin Lane, President of the second largest and most diverse HBCU in the United States, “Texas Southern University is proud to serve as the venue for such a prestigious event.” In addition, Dr. Lane believes: “This undertaking reflects positively on the University and the City of Houston and provides TSU students with opportunities to work with ABC and its partners to gain valuable experience throughout the process.” Overall, Texas Southern University serves as debate central during the week of September 9th thru the 13th as well as the media focal point for all debate related functions. Primarily, TSU’s H&PE Arena and the Student Recreation Center will house debate central and media sourcing.
All-in-all, twenty Democratic Presidential candidates will descend upon Houston for two-nights of issue-oriented debates, while discussing those policies impacting the United States. What has not been determined are who the moderators will be and the order in which participants will appear on any given night. According to Mr. Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, “Houston was an ideal debate site because of the city’s diversity and Democratic elected officials, to include U.S. Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee and Mayor Sylvester Turner.”
In retrospect, this is a great honor for the City of Houston and Texas Southern University; more importantly, the debate lays the foundation for a spirited night of conversation regarding the Democratic Party’s political ideologies and gives voice to twenty individuals aspiring to be President of the United States.
Sheldon T. Nunn