This past Monday, February 20th Hope College had the privilege of hosting current Presidential Candidate and former United States Senator, Rick Santorum. A campus wide email was sent out just one day before Rick Santorum would be on our campus. The students were told Mr. Santorum would be speaking at 5:00pm and we should be in the Maas Center no later than 4:30pm. I arrived at 4:15pm with one of my friends thinking I would have a good spot inside the room where I could see Mr. Santorum give his speech and answer questions. I could not have been more wrong. I was all the way in the back and I could not even see the podium where Mr. Santorum would be standing. Now, I could not see the stage for two reasons: 1. I was all the way in the back with a bunch of tall, Dutch students standing in front of me. 2. I am not Dutch, I'm vertically challenged. As it got closer and closer to 5:00, there was still no sign of Santorum. When it was 5:00 exactly...still no sign of Santorum. A student who is part of the "Republicans of Hope College" stepped up to the microphone to thank all of us for coming out and that Mr. Santorum should be here shortly.
Not a great photo, but the two people on stage are members of the "Republicans of Hope College."Well, I was still standing in the back of the bulk of the crowd, knees aching, stomach growling, feeling anxious about when Rick Santorum would finally show up when I decided to look around and see if I could tell if people were excited that Santorum was even coming to Hope. I know I WAS excited he was coming even if I do not agree with everything Mr. Santorum stands for it is still cool to have a Presidential candidate come to such a small school in Michigan. After all, there were quite a few students in this little room, the doors even had to be shut to some students who did not get there early enough. People obviously wanted to see Mr. Santorum or at least hear what he had to say.
The room was absolutely packedThe minutes kept passing by and there was still no sign of Santorum. I started to wonder if I was even going to be able to hear him talk. "I have a meeting at 6:30 and I haven't even eaten dinner yet" I said to myself. At 5:45pm one of Mr. Santorum's advocates, a reverend from a local church, approached the microphone and told us it would be only 3 more minutes. Well, as you probably guessed, it took more than 3 minutes. Around 5:58pm Rick Santorum finally pulled up in his black SUV. Then, he went inside and went to a different room than the one I was in. That was it. I could not take it anymore. My knees were killing me, I was hungry, and a little annoyed that I had to leave and did not get to hear Mr. Santorum speak. So I left. After waiting around for over an hour and a half, I had to leave without hearing one word, without getting one picture, without hearing any of Mr. Santorum's stances on current issues. To say the least, I was less than impressed. I just want Ron Paul to come to Hope so I can take a picture with that sweet, old man.
We just need to figure out a way to get Reagan back!Thanks for reading. See you next time.
-cody