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News School looks at political policies
By Ashley Pastor Staff writer Roughly a week after Mercyhurst College President Dr. Thomas Gamble stated that he will look into a policy regarding the presence of political candidates on campus, the college announced it would be the venue for Sen. Hillary Clinton for her “Solutions for the Pennsylvania Economy” address Tuesday evening. Gamble, however, said the college still has plans to develop the political policies. He announced the formation of two committees that will look into two separate policies. The one, headed by Associate Vice President of Advancement Dr. David Livingston, is in charge of recommending guidelines for the presence of political candidates and related activities on campus. The other committee, chaired by Vice President of Student Life Dr. Gerry Tobin, plans to recommend a policy that will address the types of paid advertisements, including political advertisements, the Merciad should accept. Since there is no specific policy governing paid political advertising, Gamble said the college is temporarily suspending the placement of such advertisements until the committee makes its recommendation. The questions about the policy were brought to light when the Merciad ran a paid political advertisement for Obama for America. According to the Erie Catholic Diocese, political advertisements are prohibited in any of its publications because, as a non-profit entity, the Merciad would have to accept advertisements from all candidates, including those who support abortion. Tobin said that the college considered Clinton’s visit as an opportunity for Mercyhurst to engage students in an educational and political dialogue, and is in no way similar to a paid political advertisement. Tobin says that the difference between the allowance of advertisements and someone speaking is that there is a question and answer session that gives students the chance for dialogue, versus a paid printed political advertisement that does not. “It is by no means an endorsement of the candidate and their views,” said Tobin. He said the college sent all political candidates an invitation to use Mercyhurst as a venue if they planned to make a stop in Erie. Clinton was the first to answer the invitation, issued three weeks prior to the Merciad’s running of the Obama for America advertisement, said Tobin. “Once the invitation was extended, we weren’t inclined to rescind the invitations,” he said. Tobin said Clinton’s visit should in no way affect the committees’ views on the separate policies. “It does not influence my objective,” he said. “I hope we’re all open minded enough to go into the committee with a good, clear thinking that will help guide us now and into the future.” Tobin said the committees plan to meet by the end of this week. Gamble said he expects the committees to make recommendations to him in the next two weeks.
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