Record crowds assembled at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism for the election season’s first presidential debate, held on October 3, 2012. The USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, in partnership with Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, welcomed over 350 members of the USC community throughout the evening, the largest ever debate viewing on the USC campus.
Major news outlets including NBC, CBS, Telemundo, KNX, and the Associated Press were on scene to record the crowd’s reactions and highlight the Center’s involvement within the USC community. Throughout the evening, students, faculty, and staff gathered in the lobby to hold candid conversations about the debate as the event unfolded.
Following the event, a bi-partisan panel discussion was held to spark immediate commentary about the debate. The USC Political Student Assembly, USC College Democrats, and USC College Republicans helped to arrange the panel discussion, which featured the following participants:
Lindsey Kozberg, Vice President of External Affairs at RAND and former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush in 2003
Alan Arkatov, Chief Executive Officer of the Teaching Channel and former Senior Advisor to 1992 Bill Clinton for President Campaign Manager Mickey Kantor
Charles Epting, Public Relations Director for the USC College Republicans
Aaron Taxy, President for the USC College Democrats
Moderated By:
Dan Schnur, Director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, Senior Fellow USC CCLP