A Point of Pride: Hofstra University is 1 of Only 2 Schools to Host Consecutive Presidential Debates (2008, 2012)

As many members of our community are aware, Hofstra was given the rare opportunity to host not only one, but two presidential debates, consecutively! On October 15th, 2008 Hofstra hosted their first Presidential debate between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. The debate focused on domestic policy and the economy. The second Presidential debate hosted by Hofstra was the following debate on October 16th, 2012 was between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. This debate like the first at Hofstra primarily focused on domestic policy, but also touched on foreign affairs. 

I bring up these debates now because Hofstra has in fact applied to host what would be their third consecutive Presidential debate in 2016! While the debate would be quite a while from now, it is quite exciting to know that Hofstra could be one of the ONLY universities to host three consecutive presidential debates! As a student here on Hofstra’s campus I put my name into the lottery to hopefully be chosen as a lucky ticket holder, however I was not one of the lucky random winners. Myself, and I am sure many other hopeful Hofstra students, are hoping for the 2016 debate to be on our campus and for more students to be chosen to attend as a guest! When I applied to be in attendance for the 2012 debate, I believe only 100 students were chosen at random to attend the debate. However, this event typically does provide students with at least one great opportunity. Students are allowed to volunteer to help out with necessary preparations for the day. This gives students a behind the scenes look at what it takes to host such a major national event and also provides some volunteer experience that can be put on a resume.

Written by Stephanie Iaccarino

Discovery Program 2015! "Discover Your Path"

Hello! My name is Wendy Markert and I am the Discovery Program Coordinator. I am a Discovery Program graduate from the Outdoor Exploration Path, and I would not be where I am today without this program.  The Hofstra Discovery Program has four different paths to choose from, Community Empowerment, Social Awareness, Outdoor Exploration and, our newest path, Leadership. Although Hofstra was close to home, I did not know anyone here and I was nervous about making friends. The Discovery Program really helped me to find and expand my boundaries, helping me to make friend easier and overall making the transition from high school life to college life less stressful. The Discovery Program takes place from August 23rd to August 27th this year and during my experience with the program I created great friendships with the other students that I know will last for many years to come. I recommend this program to any and every student, so don't forget to apply today! If you have any questions about the Discovery Program I would be more than happy to answer them!

For more information about the Hofstra Discovery Program please visit the Discovery Webpage

Gina Arfi: Head Orientation Leader

Hello Class of 2019!  

I hope you have been enjoying your first few official days of summer.  My name is Gina Arfi and I am one of the Head Orientation Leaders here at Hofstra's amazing New Student Orientation Program.  I'm writing to report that we have already had three fantastic weeks of Orientation, and our staff cannot wait to see what the next five weeks of Orientation hold!  Our staff is made up of eighteen Orientation Leaders, two Head Orientation Leaders, three Graduate Orientation Leaders, and three Welcome Week Coordinators who have all been working hard since February to bring you a fun-filled three days at Orientation.  We have designed the program to make it easy to meet a lot of new incoming students and give all our soon to be first-years lots of opportunities to experience our beautiful campus.  Our Orientation Staff is eager to help you all and answer any questions or concerns that you may have.  Our goal is to get you excited about attending Hofstra in the fall and we are excited to get to know you.  So with that, welcome to the Pride Class of 2019, and we can't wait to see you soon!

P.S. - Be sure to check us out at our New Student Orientation Facebook Page throughout the summer!