Washington-in-Grinnell

This fall, Grinnell got a brief, behind-the-scenes glimpse of the presidential campaign. On Sept. 18, Vice President Joe Biden visited Grinnell’s Harris Center to talk about issues such as student loans, the economy, and health care. The event was not College-sponsored (the Obama campaign rented the College’s facilities to hold a rally), but College staff collaborated with Secret Service and the campaign in a whirlwind of site scouting, security sweeps, and venue preparation.

“We were really, really proud to have been visited,” says Jim Reische, vice-president for communications. “We would have been proud to host either party.”

Before the event, the Secret Service briefed College staff and the city of Grinnell’s public service workers on how the visit would be managed. Then they locked down Harris Center and swept the entire interior with security dogs. Following that, College conference operations staff and campaign workers transformed the center’s concert hall into a rally space. 

“It was a very compact process,” says Reische. “We had five days’ notice.” 

“They’d call and say, ‘We need banners,’ ’’ recalls Rachel Bly ’93, director of conference operations and events. Soon roadies were unloading enough sound equipment, staging, and bleachers to host a rock concert. 

Area alumni and friends of the College received VIP invitations. An array of student speakers and community music groups, including the Too Many Strings band (composed mostly of faculty and retired faculty) and the G-Tones a cappella group (composed entirely of students) kicked off the event. 

Under a banner that read “Fired Up and Ready for Joe,” supporters cheered and waved signs as Biden outlined the Obama platform, descended into the crowd for handshaking and picture-taking, and then was gone. The following morning, only a few truck-tire tracks left on Mac Field showed evidence of a campaign stop.