Commission on Presidential Debates Director to Discuss "Failing to Succeed"
WILLIAMSTOWN - What would have happened if Senator McCain hadn't shown up at the first presidential debate? Which vice presidential candidate was more nervous -- or pickier -- before the debate? If Hofstra University got to host a debate, why not Williams College?Find out the answers to questions like these from Janet H. Brown '73, executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates http://www.debates.org/, in her first live interview since the end of this debate cycle. Williams College's Gaudino Scholar Edward B. Burger http://williams.edu/Mathematics/eburger/ will interview her.
The event, scheduled for 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21, in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall, is free and open to the public. It is the second of four Gaudino Dialogues themed "Failing to Succeed," a series of unscripted interviews in which successful and prominent Williams College alumni discuss failure, creativity, and triumph.
Brown has held her current post since the Commission, a bipartisan nonprofit, was established in 1987 to sponsor the presidential and vice-presidential debates during each general election period. Before that, Brown served in appointed positions in the White House, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Department of Labor under the Reagan administration. She was also press secretary to Senator John C. Danforth.
As executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates, Brown is pivotal in the meticulous determination of format, rules, and moderators for each debate. Among the innovations her Commission initiated during this year's highly anticipated debate season was the web site Mydebates.org, which allowed users to submit questions for the Oct. 7 town meeting-style debate though a partnership with social networking portal Myspace.
The event at Williams College is made available with the support of the Robert L. Gaudino Memorial Fund, whose programs complement the primary objectives of the college's educational mission: promoting active learning, combating fragmentation of knowledge, and assembling an open community of learning characterized by integrity, mutual respect, and rigorous intellectual endeavor.
This fall, Professor of Mathematics Edward B. Burger, as the college's Gaudino Scholar, is offering the first interdisciplinary Gaudino course on the process of creating. In addition, he has developed this series of dialogues of life stories.
"My hope is that these wonderful alumni will inspire all of us to take more risks and actively try to be more creative in our everyday lives," Burger said in announcing the series. The next event is scheduled for November 11.
