Presidential Candidate Sen. Barack Obama to Speak at the College of Charleston

CHARLESTON, S.C., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D) will speak on the College of Charleston campus on January 10, 2008 as part of the College of Charleston's Bully Pulpit Series.

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.

The event will take place at College of Charleston's Cistern Yard on January 10, 2008. Gates for this event will open at 11:00 am. A ticket is required for entrance. Tickets will be available for students at no charge at the information desk on the first floor of the Stern Student Center on the College of Charleston campus. Tickets cannot be reserved via phone call or e- mail contact.

As part of this non-partisan series, an equal number of presidential candidates from the two major political parties have been invited to the College of Charleston campus. U.S. Senator John McCain (R) and U.S. Representative Ron Paul (R) participated in the Bully Pulpit Series in 2007.

"The Bully Pulpit series is a unique forum for Presidential candidates to talk with our students and the greater Charleston community," said George Benson, President of the College of Charleston. "The College is looking forward to hosting this series and offering our students an opportunity to learn from some of the most prominent figures in American politics."

"We are pleased to have Senator Obama come to our campus," said Brian McGee, chairman of the Department of Communication at the College of Charleston. "The 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."

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. Each event in the series offers students and faculty the opportunity to analyze the ideas of each candidate.

Following Senator Obama's appearance, the College of Charleston will offer the opportunity to subscribe to podcasts, permitting listeners to download the relevant audio from each candidate's appearance to their computer or MP3 player. Video portions of the appearance also will be streamed following the event.

To provide further opportunities for analysis of the candidate's appearance, the College of Charleston has invited Augustana College in Rock Island, IL, to collaborate with them in discussions of the candidates' responses. The College of Charleston will provide a complete video recording of this event to the Department of Speech Communication at Augustana College. Augustana student and faculty feedback will be reported as part of the follow- up to Senator Obama's appearance.

Visit http://www.cofc.edu/bullypulpit/ for further information and updates on the presidential candidates participating in The Bully Pulpit Series.

With the largest undergraduate major at the College of Charleston, the Department of Communication enrolls over 800 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs. Students in the department study such topics as political communication, interpersonal communication, journalism, and public relations. The department is housed in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The Department of Communication Advisory Council promotes the recognition and progress of communication instruction at the College of Charleston. The Advisory Council is made up of an outstanding and nationally prominent group of communication professionals who aid the Department of Communication in developing curricula, creating and improving departmental programs, and calling attention to the many accomplishments of the department's students and faculty.

The College of Charleston is a nationally preeminent, public liberal arts and sciences university located in the heart of historic Charleston, South Carolina. With a student population of approximately 9800 undergraduates and 1400 graduate students, the College is known for its small-college feel blended with the advantages and diversity of an urban, mid-sized university. Founded in 1770, the College of Charleston is among the nation's top universities for quality education, student life and affordability.

                                   Appendix
                               Membership List
                 Department of Communication Advisory Council
                            College of Charleston

    -- Council Chair: Michael Fanning, VP, Corporate Affairs, Michelin North
       America

    -- Vice Chair: Tom Martin, Executive-in-Residence, Department of
       Communication, College of Charleston

    -- R. Jeep Bryant, Executive Vice President, The Bank of New York Company,
       Inc.
    -- Steve Cody, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Peppercom
    -- Albert Coscia, Senior VP, Corporate Relations Visa USA
    -- Lisa Davis, VP, Corporate Communications, AstraZeneca
    -- Tucker Eskew, Founding Partner, ViaNovo
    -- Bill Hawkins, Executive Editor, Charleston Post and Courier
    -- Bill Heyman, President and CEO, Heyman Associates
    -- Virginia Holman, Senior Director, Marketing, TSYS
    -- Julia Hood, Editor-in-chief, PRWeek
    -- Bill Hughes, Senior VP of Corporate Communications, CA
    -- Karen Kaplan, General Manager, Fleishman-Hillard, Atlanta
    -- Tim Klein, VP, Public Relations, AT&T Wireless
    -- Keith Lindenburg, Director of National Public Relations, Deloitte
       Services
    -- Phil Noble, President, Phil Noble & Associates, Inc.
    -- Mike McCurry, Principal, Public Strategies Washington, Inc.
    -- Rob Minton, Communications Manager, General Motors
    -- Dick Mitchell, Managing Principal, RBMM
    -- Bruce Murdy, President, Rawle Murdy
    -- John Palmer, Anchor, Retirement Living Television
    -- Sarah Peterson, Senior VP of Marketing and Public Affairs, Main Line
       Health
    -- H. Keith Poston, Managing Director, Corporate Communications, AGL
       Resources
    -- Greg Schneiders, Founding Partner, prime group
    -- Dan Solomon, Chief Executive Officer, Mindshare Interactive Campaigns
    -- Lorraine Thelian, Senior Partner, North America, Ketchum
    -- Nadine Vogel, Principal, Springboard Consulting
    -- David Webster, Vice President, Corporate Communications, Centex