Campaigns didn't show up on Greene Street
Shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday, Russell House workers packed up five white tables and a handful of black chairs they had set up on Greene Street earlier that morning. Hundreds of students streamed past, rushing to class, to work, back home.
They were passing by the close of what was ostensibly the university’s marquee event leading up to Saturday’s hotly contested Republican primary.
Few noticed.
They had, after all, little reason to. After Student Body President Joe Wright said last week that he expected the remaining GOP candidates, or at least their campaigns, to make appearances on Greene Street Tuesday, Tuesday came and went — and the tables on Greene Street sat empty.
“When you’re working with campaigns, they run on a very tight schedule, so it’s hard to get concrete confirmation from them,” Wright said.
Student Government had contacted the campaigns in December; only representatives of Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul responded.
“We assumed the others were tentative,” Wright said. “We opened up the campus to them if they wanted to seize the day.”
None took up SG’s offer, though, except Jon Huntsman, who spoke in the Darla Moore School of Business last Wednesday before dropping out of the race five days later.
“I assume he’d have been here [Tuesday] if he didn’t drop out,” Wright said.
Although hundreds turned out to see the former Utah governor and U.S. ambassador to China speak last week, few students seemed familiar with Student Government’s ambitious plans for Tuesday.
When asked if he had heard of the event, Dylan Hughes, a third-year political science student, said, “No, I actually hadn’t.”
He wasn’t alone, as a majority of students interviewed Tuesday afternoon similarly had no idea of the plan to bring the campaign trail onto Greene Street earlier in the day.
Karson Leperi, a fourth-year chemical engineering student, said that he wished USC had attracted more top-tier candidates to campus.
“I know we had Huntsman,” he said, “but I’d like to see some bigger names, like Mitt Romney or maybe Ron Paul.”
For that, Wright apologized, though he held out hope nonetheless for another visit to campus.
“I apologize that we didn’t get as much time with campaigns as we’d hoped for,” he said, noting also: “I wouldn’t be surprised if you see one pop up on campus this week. We’re still open for anyone who wants to come.”
But so far, the race to Pennsylvania Avenue has yet to cross Greene Street.