College criticizes invitation-only political rallies

A month before the 2004 election, Cheney was greeted at Allegheny College by a couple hundred rowdy...

A month before the 2004 election, Cheney was greeted at Allegheny College by a couple hundred rowdy protesters, many holding signs for Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry. Cheney was there for an invitation-only town meeting at the school's gymnasium. In 2006 Allegheny enacted a policy requiring any political candidate or a surrogate such as a spouse, son or daughter, to provide an equal number of tickets to supporters and students. The college wants others to do the same for the 2008 presidential election.

(Bill Owen)

A Pennsylvania college that was the scene of a protest against Vice President Cheney is trying to start a movement to ban politicians from holding closed meetings restricted to supporters on all campuses in the nation.

The Soapbox Alliance started by professors at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., says it is opposed to allowing politicians of any party to use colleges as a backdrop for their rallies. The alliance has sent letters to 600 other colleges and universities in the hope that they too will refuse to let their facilities be used for such events.

"Young folks are savvy and increasingly cynical about politics. They can see through phony staged events," says Dan Shea, director of Allegheny's Center for Political Participation, who initiated the Alliance. "We want to get them involved in the process."

Colleges have shown little enthusiasm for the idea. And political operatives question whether rallies should include people who don't support the candidate.

"It's a nice concept, but people tend to misbehave," says Trent Duffy, former deputy press secretary for President Bush.

Allegheny is a good example.

A month before the 2004 election, Cheney was greeted at Allegheny by a couple hundred rowdy protesters, many holding signs for Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry. Cheney was there for an invitation-only town meeting at the school's gymnasium. The Crawford County GOP and Allegheny College Republicans, among others, hosted the event in the rented facility.

Shea says that was wrong.

"Colleges shouldn't rent their reputations for a check," says Shea, who voted for Kerry. "It's blood money. We don't want it."

Robyn Sye, chairwoman of the Crawford County Republican Committee, said Shea was not correct to say the event was closed. She said people only needed to get a ticket in advance from her office and all were welcome.

Still, Shea and other professors at this small liberal arts college of 2,100 students decided a new policy was needed at the school and nationwide.