University Of Notre Dame Still Plans To Host First Presidential Debate Despite Pandemic

As of Tuesday, the University of Notre Dame is still planning on hosting the first presidential debate in September despite the coronavirus pandemic.

This comes after an announcement from the University of Michigan that it is backing out of hosting the second presidential debate due to work needed to prepare the Ann Arbor campus for the fall semester during the pandemic. That debate has been moved to Florida.

But officials from Notre Dame said they still intend to host the first presidential debate on campus.

University spokesperson Paul Browne said there will be some changes to the debate to try to limit possible exposure to COVID-19, but details are still being worked out.

“We’re still working with the Commission [of Presidential Debates] on the overall footprint, how many people will be invited to campus, all of those things are in discussion with an emphasis on safety,” Browne said.

Notre Dame is planning on starting in-person classes on Aug. 10. The debate is scheduled for Sept. 29.

Browne said some of the COVID-19 precautions in place for reopening to students may be used to try to safely host the debate.

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