Date: Sep 08, 2008

Hofstra University's Educate '08 Program Presents On The Record: A Hofstra Presidential Conference Retrospective

A Look Back at Hofstra’s Historic Presidential Conferences – From Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1982 to William Jefferson Clinton in 2005

Thursday, September 18, 2008, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY … Former and current Hofstra University faculty and deans who have served as directors of Hofstra’s groundbreaking presidential conferences over the past 26 years will gather for a roundtable discussion, On The Record: A Hofstra Presidential Conference Retrospective, on Thursday, September 18, from 4 to 6 p.m. Location is the Lowenfeld Conference and Exhibition Hall, 10th floor, Axinn Library, South Campus. Admission is free and no advance registration is required.

As Hofstra University and all of Long Island ready for the advent of the October 15, 2008, Presidential Debate between Barack Obama and John McCain at Hofstra’s Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex, it is important to remember that Hofstra’s groundbreaking series of presidential conferences was one of the factors that led to the University being selected as a debate site. The debate at Hofstra will be the first in New York since the 1960 debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

The Hofstra Cultural Center’s presidential conference series began in 1982 with Franklin Delano Roosevelt: The Man, The Myth, The Era in March 1982. The conferences have since covered every presidential administration following FDR’s, up to William Jefferson Clinton: The “New Democrat” From Hope in 2005. Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton attended their respective conferences and spoke at length to audiences of students, faculty, community members, historians, and journalists about their time spent in office. Conference participation has also included former first ladies and other presidential family members, cabinet members, world leaders and esteemed scholars.

For the first time, the directors of the Hofstra presidential conferences will gather to reminisce and share anecdotes about coordinating these momentous events and working with former presidents, their families and members of their administrations. They are traveling from as far away as Australia to join this special event.

For more information visit www.hofstra.edu/Educate08 or call the Hofstra Cultural Center at (516) 463-5669.

Hofstra’s Educate ’08 series is presented by The Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency and The John D. Miller Fund at the Long Island Community Foundation, with additional support by Newsday, The New York Sun and The New York Observer. On The Record: A Hofstra Presidential Conference Retrospective is additionally presented by the Hofstra Cultural Center and the Hofstra University Museum.

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Panel participants:

Herman A. Berliner, Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs. Dr. Berliner will be the event moderator.

Bernard J. Firestone, Dean, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Co-director of Lyndon Baines Johnson: A Texan In Washington (1986) and director of Gerald R. Ford: Restoring The Presidency (1989).

Leon Friedman, the Joseph Kushner Distinguished Professor of Civil Liberties Law. Co-director of Richard Nixon: A Retrospective On His Presidency (1987).

Paul Harper, Professor Emeritus of Political Science. Director of John F. Kennedy: The Promise Revisited (1985).

William F. Levantrosser, Professor Emeritus of Political Science. Director of Harry S. Truman: The Man From Independence (1983); co-director of Richard Nixon: A Retrospective On His Presidency (1987); director of  George Bush: Leading In A New World (1997).

Herbert D. Rosenbaum, Professor Emeritus of Political Science. Director of Franklin Delano Roosevelt: The Man, The Myth, The Era (1982); Jimmy Carter: Keeping the Faith (1990).

Eric J. Schmertz, the Edward F. Carlough Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Law and former Dean of Hofstra Law School. Director of Dwight D. Eisenhower: Soldier, President, Statesman (1984); Ronald Reagan: The Fortieth President (1993); and William Jefferson Clinton: The “New Democrat” From Hope (2005).

Robert C. Vogt, former Dean, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Co-director of Lyndon Baines Johnson: A Texan In Washington (1986).

Additionally, the Hofstra University Museum is hosting the exhibition, The Presidents – 1933-2001: A History of Presidential Conferences at Hofstra University, opening Monday, September 8, 2008, at the Lowenfeld Conference and Exhibition Hall, Axinn Library, 10th floor, and the David Filderman Gallery, Axinn Library, ninth floor. For more information, please call (516) 463-5672 or visit hofstra.edu/museum.

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