Nov. 18, 2008

By Katie Meier
Asst. Sports Information Director

History was made on Nov. 4, 2008, for a multitude of reasons, the most obvious of which was the election of the United States' 43rd President, Barack Obama. History was also made that night on the campus of Lafayette when the College televised a presidential election for the first time in school history.

The live telecast was the culmination of months of work on the part of students, faculty, staff and members of the Lafayette community. Professor Mark Crain's Policy Studies classes undertook the major project of producing a live broadcast of the historic 2008 Presidential election.

Extensive research, work and preparation were done to pull off the broadcast and nine classes in addition to Crain's were involved. Students enrolled in John Wilson's Geographical Information Systems class produced on-screen political maps. Those taking an advanced video art course assisted with the formatting of pre-recorded segments. Journalism students wrote scripts for the pre-recorded and live broadcast segments, while art students helped create posters, logos and flyers. Students were needed to promote the broadcast and even the dance team made an appearance on election night.

Among the 400 who dedicated time and resources into making the project a success, including Bruce Maggin '65 whose support helped make the project possible, were nearly 300 students, including a handful of student-athletes. For Leopard fans, it may have been a shock to see student-athletes on their television screens. Fans are accustomed to seeing student-athletes scoring goals, touchdowns or making game-winning catches, not briefing them on the status of the election or offering well-educated opinions on critical political issues.

Despite schedules packed with classes, school work, meetings, practice and games, the student-athletes involved in the project did not take on menial roles. Each had to fill an important role, without which the night never would have been successful.

One of the more prominent student-athletes was sophomore defensive end Jeff Katz, who served as one of the co-anchors of the live broadcast.

Katz and former women's lacrosse player Stephanie Kramer '09 hosted the broadcast. They had months of research and work to prepare them for the night's events but when the cameras rolled, they were live with little room for error. Katz and Kramer though, like all student-athletes, are accustomed to performing under pressure, and they exceeded all expectations.

"The production went off like clockwork," Crain said. "It was well-coordinated, the students truly stepped up and took ownership of it. They worked well together as a team. It was so well done."

Katz and Kramer may have been two of the more visible student-athletes involved but several others had their hands in behind-the-scenes work, without which Katz and Kramer's performances would not have gone so smoothly.

Like any good production, in-depth and detailed research was needed to educate everyone on the critical issues and people involved in the election. Women's basketball player Amanda Leone '10, who served as Political Director, oversaw a group of students who researched various aspects and key issues of the election.

Katz's teammate Jeff Cumming '10 was another student whose hard work off-camera helped make the night run smoothly. Cumming, an Economics and Business major, served as the stage manager and was responsible for making sure all areas of the broadcast went off as scheduled.

"A lot of people put a lot of work into making this happen," he said after the big night. "I learned quite a bit about what it takes to see something like this through from the drawing board to reality. I think those are skills I'll find useful no matter what field I end up in."

The broadcast also would not have been the overwhelming success that it was without viewers tuning in. That's where those involved in the public relations area had their hands in the production.

Senior men's soccer player Steve Ference served on the Public Relations and Coordination committee. Ference and the rest of the students in committee aimed to make the broadcast more student-based and less formal, adding a youthful and unique approach to the coverage.

"Really, we were just trying to reach out to the Lafayette community," he said. "A lot of the projects we put together were to identify with the local community and the Lehigh Valley. We wanted to get everybody involved."

Ference and teammate Justin Kamine '11 also worked on one of the unique aspects of the broadcast--podcasts. There were a total of 12 podcasts produced, covering topics ranging from the global perspective of the election to fashion.

The student-athletes were focused on educating others about what was one of the most impactful and significant events in recent history, but they also learned a great deal about themselves.

"Before this, I mainly wanted to get into finance after college," Katz said. "Now, I'm also really interested in the political process, so I'm thinking about the field of political economy. Being a part of this broadcast has helped to broaden my horizons. Now I see what other options might be open to me in the future."