Although campaign finance reform might not be the most popular bill in Washington, the issue brought hundreds of people to Fisk Hall on Monday for a town hall meeting with the bill’s co-sponsors, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.).
But because only 150 tickets were available to students, a crush of angry people failed to find seats inside Fisk 217, which holds about 300. The other 150 seats were reserved for ticket-holding community members.
Many students said the event, which was sponsored by the campaign finance reform group Common Cause, should have taken place in a larger venue, such as Pick-Staiger Concert Hall or Cahn Auditorium.
“At this point, the event is so disorganized that I don’t even care if I get in,” said Evan Hoppin, a Medill senior waiting outside the auditorium at 1:45 p.m. “I understand that the event is crowded, but I don’t get why it was held here.”
But Medill Dean Ken Bode said if the event was not held at Fisk Hall, it would not have taken place at Northwestern.
“We tried to accommodate as many students as possible,” he said. “We brought in students to sit on the aisles and stage. I know we could have filled a larger hall, but none were available on such short notice.”
The Medill School of Journalism set up a live Internet broadcast of the meeting linked from the school’s home page. The school also broadcast the event in Fisk 201 to about 80 shut-out students.
Ari Berman, a Medill freshman, watched the event from Fisk 201 after finding that student tickets were gone by 12:30 p.m.
“Medill should have told us that we needed tickets to get in and when tickets would be available,” he said. “I understand not everyone could get in, but I was never told what time I needed to be there to get in.”
Speech freshman Tiffany Westlie, who worked for McCain’s presidential campaign in Arizona, sat on the auditorium’s aisle floor, but said she was “just happy to have gotten in.”
“It wasn’t the most comfortable place, but I’m just happy I saw them speak because a lot of people didn’t,” she said. “You can’t bring such a well-known politician to campus and only allow 300 people in. It’s ridiculous.”
DeAnn Tolley, a McCain supporter from Naperville, said she called Medill on Friday for information about the event, but no one told her to come early for tickets.
“I would have come earlier if I needed to,” she said. “It was rude not to be told that I needed tickets. This doesn’t leave a good taste in my mouth for this school.”
Susan Quatrone, a Common Cause spokeswoman, said the group misjudged how many would attend.
“We should have anticipated more enthusiasm from the community,” she said. “We wanted to make it a more intimate setting, but next time we’ll learn our lesson.”
