CONTACT:
Julie Rutz, IowaPolitics.com Marketing Coordinator, rutz@iowapolitics.com or 515-226-8774
Rachel Paine Caufield, Drake Department of Politics and International Relations, rachel.caufield@drake.edu or 515-271-1924
Brooke Benschoter, Drake Director of Marketing and Communications, brooke.benschoter@drake.edu or 515-271-2017
Drake University and IowaPolitics.com announced today a luncheon series offering bipartisan perspectives and analysis to the Drake community, the Iowa and national political communities and interested citizens in Iowa and across the country.
The Drake-IowaPolitics.com Luncheon Series will provide a forum where major candidates, elected officials, major party leaders, campaign organizers, pollsters, pundits and other newsmakers can communicate directly with interested citizens as well as Drake students, faculty and staff. The series, launched less than a year before the crucial Iowa caucuses in January 2008, will help focus attention on major issues and Iowa’s role in the presidential selection process — both before and after the caucuses.
The Drake-IowaPolitics.com Luncheon Series will be open to the public and invited guests. The luncheons will take place as frequently as once a month starting this spring. More details will be released soon.
“This provides an excellent opportunity for Drake to promote effective and engaged citizenship, a central goal of the University,” said Drake University Provost Ronald Troyer. “The University has a unique and wonderful opportunity given Iowa’s role in the presidential selection process and this is just a first step in our efforts to encourage informed participation in that process.”
“We are pleased to join this prestigious institution in helping to foster discussion about politics and government in Iowa,” said Chris Dorsey, the IowaPolitics.com Des Moines bureau chief. “Iowa’s status as a top ’08 battleground state allows the Drake community and Iowa’s political community a wonderful opportunity to influence national events.”
Drake University is a private institution recognized as one of the top master’s universities in the nation, with more than 5,350 students from 45 states and 60 countries. Located in Iowa’s capital city, the University is uniquely positioned to provide learning opportunities through partnerships with the city’s and state’s bounty of businesses, schools, government and cultural organizations.
IowaPolitics.com, an independent, non-partisan online news service, maintains a free Web site at http://www.iowapolitics.com/ and a paid subscriber information service.
For more information about the luncheon series, contact Julie Rutz at 515-226-8774 or rutz@iowapolitics.com.