Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will speak to the Northwestern community at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 2 at Cahn Auditorium. The event, titled “Ethics in Politics: An evening with Former Governor Rod Blagojevich,” is sponsored by College Democrats.

“A conversation about ethics and politics is important to have,” said Dan Rockoff, vice president of programming for College Democrats. “There isn’t a better person out there to discuss this than former Governor Rod Blagojevich.”

Because four out of the last eight Illinois governors before Gov. Pat Quinn have been indicted, corruption was a key issue during the Illinois primary elections, Rockoff said.

Blagojevich (WCAS ’79) will have 15 minutes to plead his case before an NU faculty panel can begin asking questions, Rockoff said. The panel will include Law Professor Tonja Jacobi, Political Science Professor Donald Gordon and Medill Professor Donna Leff, the Communication senior said.

“The majority of the event will be an interplay between the faculty panel and the former governor,” he said.

After the faculty panel has finished, students will have the opportunity to ask questions, Rockoff said.

“Our belief is that students at Northwestern are interested in debating this issue,” he said. “They will be interested to see this kind of dialogue.”

Derrick Wu said he was excited when he received a Facebook invite to the event.

“It is absolutely a great idea to bring a prominent, controversial figure,” the Bienen and Weinberg sophomore said.

The event will be effective because it gives students an opportunity to experience a newsworthy event, rather than read about it, Wu said.

Although College Democrats is not sure when tickets will be available, the Norris University Center Box Office will begin distributing them later this week, Rockoff said. There will be about 1,000 free tickets for the NU community, he said.

– Lauren Mogannam