The Town Hall that featured John Kasich first scheduled for Grewen Auditorium, but as interest for the event grew, college officials realized the venue would have to as well. The Henninger Athletic Center ended up being the right move for Kasich, as around 1,000 students and community members flooded into the gymnasium last Friday evening.

Kasich spoke on his background and his experience in Congress, and also  took questions from the audience. The Governor from Ohio explained that he did not want to take part in slandering other candidates, which drew praise and applause from the audience.

“Four months ago none of you knew my name,” said Kasich. “You thought my name was the Governor from Ohio because I refused to take the low roach to the highest office in the land.”

Students who attended the event reacted positively to Kasich, and the event as a whole. Despite who many students and community members may be voting for, the Town Hall have them a chance to learn more about Kasich and what he could offer as President.

“Many people did not know much about John Kasich before this event. After watching the debates and doing research I do believe that he is one of the better candidates for the Republican Party,” said junior Kayla Burt, who attended the event. “This was very beneficial for Le Moyne students because it encouraged more people to talk about politics and learn more about the candidates. I hope that this event will encourage people to follow this presidential election more closely, do research, and have educated discussions with others instead of getting their information from social media.”

Sophomore Derek Matina felt that one of the most important issues that Kasich spoke on was his record with dealing with balancing the budget.

“The most important issue that he brought up was his experience with the budget.  I feel like our nation is in a time, where we need an experience person who is able to get our budget in line,” said Matina. “We cannot just keep letting politician after politician push this problem on our generation.”

After speaking on his personal record, Kasich took questions from the audience who appeared to be in support of his actions. One criticism that Burt saw with the question process was that Kasich mostly picked those who had come from the community and not as much from students.

“It was great that he took so many questions at the town hall, but I wish that he would have asked college students for questions,” said Burt. “Many students had their hands raised, and he only asked middle-aged people from only two or three sections in the audience.”

After Kasich finished answering questions, he was funneled to the back gym where he greeted a group of students who he shook hands and took photos with, and even shot some basketballs.

Above all, students saw this as a great and historic opportunity for Le Moyne to host a high profile presidential candidate.

“It shows that Le Moyne is really making a name for itself,” said Matina. “I was so happy he came here and not Syracuse University.  I also feel that having someone like this come shows that they understand what we are bring to the table in terms of academics and more.”