The University of Michigan has submitted an application to host a presidential debate in 2020.
According to an article from the University Record, University President Mark Schlissel submitted the letter Monday to the Commission on Presidential Debates, a non-profit organization that hosts general election debates between the Republican and Democratic parties.
Schlissel expressed the University’s qualifications through its work with past presidents.
“Not only are we the alma mater of President Gerald R. Ford, but also it was on the very steps of the Michigan Union that presidential hopeful John F. Kennedy delivered his impromptu speech in 1960 announcing his vision of what would become the Peace Corps,” Schlissel wrote in the letter. “The tradition of public service and public engagement is at the core of the mission of the University of Michigan.”
The city of Hartford, Conn., Belmont University, Creighton University, the University of Notre Dame and the Utah Debate Commission and the University of Utah have also submitted bids to host a debate.
As a next step, the University will have to submit a more detailed hosting plan. If selected, the University will have to pay a $2.5 million fee along with other expenses for hosting the event and other needs for the debate.
The commission will make its final decisions in late summer.