College campuses have long been fertile ground for national politicians to make their case to voters, and Muhlenberg is no exception. Many presidential and vice presidential candidates visited ’Berg during the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st.
In October 1960, sitting Vice President (and Republican presidential candidate) Richard Nixon addressed a crowd of 5,500 people in Memorial Hall, attacking his opponent, Senator John F. Kennedy, for his policy positions on Cuba. Gauging his audience, Nixon also spoke of ways he would help with financial aid to college students.
When Vice President Hubert Humphrey visited Muhlenberg in 1966, after his first two unsuccessful presidential runs and before two more, he stood on the steps of Seegers Union and addressed students about the importance of their college education during divided times. Students who were opposed to the Vietnam War protested with signs during Humphrey’s speech (pictured, above left); he responded that they were just exercising their rights to dissent while other students exercised their rights to assent.
In the 1980s and ’90s, Muhlenberg also hosted politicians who had been unsuccessful in their bids for the White House but remained sought-after speakers. Both Shirley Chisholm (the first African American to run for a major party’s presidential nomination) and Geraldine Ferraro (the first woman vice-presidential nominee) spoke at the College, the former at the 25th anniversary of coeducation and the latter as Commencement speaker for the Class of 1990.
On March 31, 2008, Barack Obama became the first presidential candidate since Nixon to visit Muhlenberg. He was preceded by former President Bill Clinton, who was campaigning on behalf of Hillary Clinton during the spring Democratic primary contest.
Most recently, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia visited the College in 2016 when he was sharing the Democratic ticket with Hillary Clinton.
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