Hundreds of Penn students skipped classes and crowded into the Zellerbach Theatre yesterday to hear Chris Matthews rapidly fire questions at former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani during a taping of MSNBC's news program "Hardball."
Sponsored by the Social Planning and Events Committee, this was the seventh stop on the show's national college tour.
Encircled by students who sat along the rear perimeter of the stage -- all donning Penn paraphernalia and vibrant shades of red and blue -- Matthews drilled Giuliani on his opinions regarding the war in Iraq, President Bush, Hilary Clinton's possible presidential prospects and his governance over the nation's largest city.
The two also discussed the former-mayor's recently published book entitled Leadership in Difficult Times.
During the exchange, the New Yorker coyly avoided definitive answers concerning his political future, but did touch on his years in one of the nation's most significant mayoral seats. He explained that he "ran [New York City] like a business" by utilizing the power of the populous to maintain and improve the quality of the city. He also highlighted local fire and police divisions as invaluable resources within the area.
Even while wearing a political mask, Giuliani noticeably raised student eyebrows.
When asked of his views on New York Senator Hilary Clinton and her possible goal of the presidency, Giuliani noted that while he respected the former first lady, he could not see her in the job -- largely due to their differing stance on relevant national issues. More significantly, however, when asked if he believed that the former first lady was a "true New Yorker," the former mayor shifted in his seat, smiled and responded that "well, she is the senator for the state of New York."
According to Matthews, "Rudy Giuliani [was] a great guest" who "answered all [the] questions honestly." Matthews added that he thought the exchange was "really sharp" and noted that this taping has been "the best one so far" in the course of the national tour.
After the two men completed their exchange, Giuliani gave up his hotseat in exchange for one among students seated onstage.
From there, College senior Eugena Oh stepped into the spotlight.
On the tour, the show relies on a format in which selected students may pose questions to the featured guest. At the end of every show, a pre-selected student is given 90 seconds in the hotseat with Matthews during which the contestant attempts to answer as many trivia questions as possible during the allotted time.
Those who answer the most questions correctly will then compete for a $10,000 scholarship and $5,000 university donation.
Although she won Monday's campus-wide trivia competition in order to gain the unique opportunity, Oh found her follow-up live performance to be less successful than hoped.
"I feel like I royally screwed up," Oh said. "I'm so upset."
Oh scored fifth among the seven students who have competed nationwide.
"I would just pass too quickly, when sometimes I had the answer on the tip of my tongue," Oh explained while sighing.
Regardless of her disappointment, Oh still noted that the experience was fun and a rare chance to meet such national notables.
While Oh may not describe her experience as the most rewarding it could have been, most students hailed the event as a great success.
"I thought it went amazingly well," SPEC Connaissance Co-Director Tim McCarten said. "It was an unbelievable experience," the College senior noted, adding that he "couldn't find a single flaw" in the event.
SPEC Connaissance Co-Director and College senior Lisa Perez echoed this sentiment. "We put this together in four or five days, so from our perspective it couldn't have gone better."
While different than "Hardball's" standard format, the
Philadelphia native Matthews emphasized after the show how much he enjoyed the campus visits.
"I love it. I light up like a lightning bug," Matthews said beaming.
The general assessment of those in attendance was also overwhelmingly positive.
"What a huge honor it is for Penn to have two notable men like Chris Matthews and Rudy Giuliani on stage," Wharton sophomore Omar Vasquez said. "It was an honor to meet a man who one day might be president."
The taping of the show will air tonight on MSNBC.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.