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September 23, 2015

To the JU community,

Greetings to all members of the JU family. Thanks for your great effort – in so many ways – as we have successfully kicked off the Fall 2015 semester. Here’s an update on a major high-profile opportunity we have been pursuing for several months: This afternoon the Commission on Presidential Debates in Washington, D.C., announced the four U.S. universities selected to host a Fall 2016 Presidential (or Vice Presidential) debate. Although we were a finalist, we were not selected this time around.

The University is honored to have been considered as a strong candidate by the Commission. We are grateful to have taken part in the selection process and feel privileged to have been among such a strong field of contenders, and we are proud of the excellent proposal our University offered.

Many thanks to David Healy, Josh Earley, Margaret Dees, Rick Mullaney, Mike Fleming, Wenying Xu, Caroline Busker, Diana Donavan, Debbie Guy, Corie Biandis, Donnie Horner, Henry Rinne, Kevin Bennett and many others for spearheading the tremendous effort to research and complete our submission package and host the Commission on our campus.

We are well prepared and look forward to being engaged again in representing our great community for future major events. We have learned much in this undertaking and anticipate participating on a high-profile stage again. Our expanding profile in public policy through hosting local debates, facilitating panel discussions with leaders in industry and politics, and the release of our first-ever statewide presidential election poll this week demonstrate ̽»¨×å’s commitment to enhancing its role as a regional and national participant in important public discourse.

Thanks again. This is an exciting period of progress for our University.

Sincerely,

Tim Cost
President
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Class of 1981