January  10, 2008

“Bully Pulpit” series on presidential communication turns focus to Sen. Barack Obama this Sunday

Rock Island, Ill. - Students at Augustana College will provide feedback to Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign after the Senator speaks on presidential communication tonight in Charleston, South Carolina. On Sunday, January 13, students participating in the "Bully Pulpit" series will gather to watch, analyze and discuss a videotape of the speech with faculty from Augustana's Department of Speech Communication. (Note: see below for time and location of Sunday's discussion.)

The "Bully Pulpit Series: Reflections on Presidential Communication" is a non-partisan series wherein an equal number of presidential candidates from the two major political parties have been invited to the College of Charleston campus in Charleston, South Carolina prior to the South Carolina presidential primaries, the first primaries to be held in the South. Senator Obama is the third presidential candidate to speak in this series, which invites the individual presidential candidates to speak with students and Charleston community members on such topics as the frequency of press conferences, the candidate's relationship with journalists, and the power of the president to persuade.

To see how Midwestern college students would respond to the candidates' comments on presidential communication, the College of Charleston has invited Augustana College to collaborate in the Bully Pulpit Series. Augustana students who were chosen to participate in the Bully Pulpit series have provided feedback on speeches by Sen. John McCain and Sen. Ron Paul, the other two presidential candidates who taken part in the series thus far. A summary of the students' commentary will appear on the College of Charleston's Bully Pulpit website.

Dr. Stephen Klien, associate professor of speech communication, will facilitate a discussion with Augustana students that will analyze, reflect on, and evaluate Obama's address. The Augustana student group will focus its discussion on expectations for how candidates and presidents should communicate in public, and to what extent Senator Obama meets, exceeds, or falls short of those expectations. The discussion will also emphasize the centrality and importance of ethical, effective communication in the political realm.

"This series is devoted to a subject often neglected during the presidential campaign: How a successful candidate, if elected, will use the 'bully pulpit' powers of the presidency to inform, persuade and mobilize the American people," said Dr. Brian McGee, chairman of the Department of Communication at the College of Charleston. The Bully Pulpit Series at the College of Charleston is a joint effort of the college's Department of Communication and the Department of Communication Advisory Council. Allstate Insurance Company is the title sponsor for the Bully Pulpit series.

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Note: Augustana's "Bully Pulpit" group will meet at 2 p.m. Sunday, January 13, in room 307 of Augustana's F.W. Olin Center for Education Technology. This event is not open to the public, however, media representatives are welcome to attend and report on the discussion and analysis. For directions to the Olin Center, please contact Kirby Winn at (309) 912-1532 or kirbywinn@augustana.edu.

Kirby Winn
Director of Public Relations
Office: (309) 794-7473 Mobile: (309) 912-1532 Fax: (309) 794-3461
publicrelations@augustana.edu