Preparations for the Vice Presidential Debate prove problematic for students

Although the upcoming Vice-Presidential Debate is generating a lot of buzz for Longwood University, some students have claimed that the construction and preparation for the debate has had a negative impact on their daily lives.

Freshman, Sara Robertson, is paralyzed and is bound to a wheelchair. She explains how difficult it has been for her to get to class because of all of the construction. “At one point, someone had to assist me off of the curb of the sidewalk, so that I would not have to roll myself backwards. Getting around is more difficult for me anyways, but the construction for the debate has caused me to have to re-arrange my schedule and leave for class much earlier than I normally do.” Longwood has been renovating buildings and has put up barrier-like fences around campus to create an enclosed space for media and for the debate; however, this has caused disabled students, like Sara and others to have to re-arrange their schedules and has made getting to class a difficult task. Yesterday, some students were also unable to easily access the library because of a pre-Debate event.

The main gym has also been moved off campus for the Debate, which has caused an inconvenience for many students.

After the fire in the Longwood Landings in August, there was a question of where students who were affected by the fire would be re-located. Instead of housing the students in two new buildings, Register and Sharp, that are being used for media during the VP debate, the students were forced to move to Village, which is much further away from campus than the Landings and requires transportation by car or bus to campus.

Firefighter Patrick Eason told us when the lightning struck the building, students were still being evacuated, mostly student-athletes. One would expect the University to provide close to equivalent housing for these students, but Longwood’s focus was clearly on other matters.